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 17 to 23 October 2022.
During the week in question, the number of Luxembourg residents testing positive for COVID-19 decreased from 2,855 to 2,384 (down 16%). There were an additional 962 reinfections, i.e. 28.7% of all people who tested positive compared to 1,079 (27.4%) the previous week.
The number of PCR tests carried out decreased from 10,063 to 9,159 over one week.
38 people reported a positive rapid antigen test for the reference week, compared to 46 the week before, bringing the number of positive results following such tests carried out by a healthcare professional to a total of 3,655. Note that positive rapid antigen tests are not taken into account in the calculation of the positivity rate.
As of Sunday 23 October 2022, the number of active infections decreased to 5,729 from 6,263 the previous week and the number of people having recovered from the illness rose to 294,158 (from 291,250). The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 was 47.9 years.
Five new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported during the week in question. The average age of the deceased was 86 years.
In hospitals, there were 30 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients to normal care (27 one week earlier). There were four patients in intensive care. The average age of hospitalised patients stood at 70 years.
Positivity rate & incidence rate
For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) decreased to 0.88 (1.01 the previous week) and the positivity rate on all tests carried out decreased from 28.37% to 26.03%.
Similarly, the incidence rate decreased to 369 cases per 100,000 residents over seven days, compared to 442 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 65-69 (up 4%), 70-74 (up 13%), 85-89 (up 18 %) and 90 and over (up 18%) over one week. The lowest incidence rate was recorded among children aged 0-4 (151 cases per 100,000 residents), while the highest incidence rates were recorded among those aged 90 and over (1,422 cases per 100,000 residents).
Transmission
Among the 3,362 resident cases reported during the week in question, a sample of 1,086 (32%) cases was reviewed and the source was determined. The family circle was the most frequent source of transmission (20%), followed by health and care sector (9%), work (8%), leisure activities (6%) and travel abroad (6%). The share of undetermined sources increased to 42%.
Vaccinations: update
For the week of 17 to 23 October, 2,989 vaccine doses were administered: nineteen people received a first dose, 20 received a second dose, 182 received a first additional dose compared to a complete vaccination schedule, 2,674 received a second complementary dose and 94 received a third complementary dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of Monday 24 October 2022 to 1,291,424.
474,737 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).
