700+ COVID-19 Infections Detected among Students, Teachers Last Week

Luxembourg's Ministry of Education, Children and Youth has presented an overview of COVID-19 infections in schools for the week of 9 to 15 November 2020.

For the sake of transparency and better understanding of the spread of the virus in schools, the ministry recalled the introduction of more precise scenarios regarding the cause and spread of infection:

- Scenario 1 (unchanged): an isolated case in a class attributed to an external source of infection (i.e. outside school)

- Scenario 2: two positive cases in a class, regardless of the source of infection (uncertain source of infection or likely infection outside the classroom)

- Scenario 3 (new): between three and five positive cases in a class

- Scenario 4: Several positive cases linked to infection within the school community: several classes are concerned and / or a class has more than five positive cases.

The data for last week is comparable to that of the week before, with no new chains of infection observed for scenario 4. The ministry added that it is currently analysing several potential scenario 4 cases this week (starting 16 November), including in Steinsel Primary School. Nevertheless, the ministry assured that the situation in schools remains under control compared to other sectors.

For scenario 3, 24 positive cases were identified, including three primary school pupils, 20 secondary school students and one secondary school teacher. 

For scenario 2, a total of 116 positive cases were observed, including 32 primary school pupils, 82 secondary school students and two secondary school teachers.

For scenario 1, 579 positive cases were identified, including 221 pupils and 44 teaching staff in primary schools and 308 students and six teachers in secondary schools. The ministry noted that this high number reflects the current strong presence of the virus in the country as a whole.