Luxembourg's Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, together with the National Health Laboratory (Laboratoire National de Santé - LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), have published a COVID-19 report for the week of 18 to 24 July 2022.
During the week in question, the number of Luxembourg residents testing positive for COVID-19 decreased from 4,830 to 3,577 cases (down 26%).
The number of PCR tests carried out fell from 13,222 to 10,580 over one week.
37 people reported a positive rapid antigen test for the reference week, compared to 67 the week before, bringing the number of positive results following such tests carried out by a healthcare professional to a total of 3,366. Note that positive rapid antigen tests are not taken into account in the calculation of the positivity rate.
As of Sunday 24 July 2022, the number of active infections decreased to 8,891 from 10,797 the previous week and the number of people having recovered from the illness rose to 270,931 (from 265,448). The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 was 42.8 years old.
No new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported during the week in question.
In hospitals, there were 21 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients to normal care (28 one week earlier). There were no COVID-19 patients in intensive care. The average age of hospitalised patients stood at 56 years.
Positivity rate & incidence rate
For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) decreased to 0.88 (0.89 the previous week), and the positivity rate on all tests carried out fell from 36.55% to 33.81%.
Similarly, the incidence rate decreased to 554 cases per 100,000 residents over seven days, compared to 748 cases per 100,000 residents for the previous week.
Reinfections as well as certified self-tests were included in the calculation of incidence rates, which decreased across all age groups (0-14: down 47%; 15-29: down 15%; 30-44: down 23%; 45-59: down 28%; 60-74: down 28%; 75+: down 30%). The lowest incidence rate was recorded among people aged 0-14 (398 cases per 100,000 residents), while the highest incidence rate was recorded among 30-44 year olds (1,010 cases per 100,000 residents).
Transmission
With the number of cases remaining high, the authorities found it difficult to contact all the infected individuals during the week in question and therefore to determine the probable source of contamination, as well as the proportion of positive cases from residents who have travelled during the fourteen days prior to the date of the result for cases in the past week.
Vaccinations: update
For the week of 18 to 24 July, 6,385 vaccine doses were administered: 37 people received a first dose, 84 received a second dose, 484 received a first additional dose compared to a complete vaccination schedule, 5,763 received a complementary second dose and seventeen received a third complementary dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of Monday 25 July 2022 to 1,288,367.
474,286 people have a complete vaccination schedule, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 78.9% of the eligible population (i.e. those aged five and over).
A fourth vaccine dose is currently available for people aged 60 and over, as well as to vulnerable at-risk people on the written recommendation of their doctor, at the Victor Hugo vaccination centre in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg, which is exceptionally open until 13 August 2022. People wishing to be vaccinated are also asked to make use of the vaccination facilities offered by GPs, pharmacies and the "Impf-Bus" vaccination bus. Further information: www.impfen.lu
Wastewater monitoring
The frequency of wastewater sampling (carried out by LIST) has been reduced to one analysis per week. Therefore, the CORONASTEP reports will be published every fortnight instead of every week.
