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 10 to 16 October 2022.

During the week in question, the number of Luxembourg residents testing positive for COVID-19 decreased from 3,004 to 2,855 (down 5%). There were an additional 1,079 reinfections, i.e. 27.4% of all people who tested positive compared to 1,246 (29.3%) the previous week.

The number of PCR tests carried out decreased from 10,274 to 10,063 over one week.

46 people reported a positive rapid antigen test for the reference week, compared to 38 the week before, bringing the number of positive results following such tests carried out by a healthcare professional to a total of 3,617. Note that positive rapid antigen tests are not taken into account in the calculation of the positivity rate.

As of Sunday 16 October 2022, the number of active infections increased to 6,258 from 5,688 the previous week and the number of people having recovered from the illness rose to 291,250 (from 288,991). The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 was 46.6 years.

Four new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported during the week in question. The average age of the deceased was 88 years.

In hospitals, there were 27 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients to normal care (27 one week earlier). There were three patients in intensive care. The average age of hospitalised patients stood at 66 years.

Positivity rate & incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) decreased to 1.01 (1.10 the previous week) and the positivity rate on all tests carried out decreased from 29.24% to 28.37%.

Similarly, the incidence rate decreased to 442 cases per 100,000 residents over seven days, compared to 465 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 except among those aged 75 and over (up 18%) and those aged 45-59 (up 1%) over one week. The lowest incidence rate was recorded among children aged 0-4 (190 cases per 100,000 residents), while the highest incidence rates were recorded among those aged 90 and over (1,252 cases per 100,000 residents).

Transmission

Among the 4,297 resident cases reported during the week in question, a sample of 1,003 (25%) cases was reviewed and the source was determined. The family circle was the most frequent source of transmission (22%), followed by work (12%), education (8%) and travel abroad (8%). The share of undetermined sources decreased to 34%.

Vaccinations: update

For the week of 10 to 16 October, 2,951 vaccine doses were administered: 24 people received a first dose, 35 received a second dose, 185 received a first additional dose compared to a complete vaccination schedule, 2,609 received a second complementary dose and 97 received a third complementary dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of Monday 17 October 2022 to 1,291,194.

474,718 people have a complete vaccination schedule, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 79% of the eligible population (i.e. those aged five and over).