New COVID-19 cases - Weekly review: 22 - 28 March

During the week from 22 to 28 March, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 1,564 to 1,684 (+7.7%), while the number of their identified close contacts also increased from 3,846 cases the previous week to 4,129 (+7.3%).

Among 109 people with a positive antigen test, 50 also had a positive PCR test.

The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 22 to 28 March has increased from 63,501 to 67,051.

On 28 March, the number of active infections was 3,479 (compared to 3,069 on 21.03.), while the number of people healed increased from 55,575 to 56,853. The average age of those diagnosed as COVID-19 positive increased slightly to 37.5 years.

The number of new deaths decreased significantly, with 20 deaths related to COVID-19 compared to 28 the previous week. The average age of the deceased is 79 years.

In the hospitals, there was a slight increase in admissions of confirmed COVID patients, with 107 hospitalisations in normal care, compared to 99 the previous week. The number of hospitalisations in intensive care has remained unchanged compared to the previous week (i.e. 21 beds).

The two COVID-19 Consultation Centres (CCCs), located in Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, have recorded a total of 10,922 visits since their opening, including 661 visits for the week of 22 to 28 March, which is lower than the previous week (722).

It should be noted that the CCCs will be open between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Easter Monday but will remain closed on Easter Sunday.

Positivity rate and incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) slightly decreased with 1.11% compared to 1.13% the previous week, while the positivity rate on all tests performed (prescriptions, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing) slightly increased, with 2.51% compared to 2.46% the previous week (average over the week). It should be noted that the positivity rate for tests carried out on prescription, i.e. for people with symptoms, decreased from 5.89% to 5.67%.

The 7-day incidence rate is 269 per 100,000 residents. Note that for the week of 15 March, the incidence rate was 250 cases per 100,000 residents over 7 days. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has increased for the age groups 15-29 years (+14%), 45-49 years (+11%) and 60-74 (+18%). In the other age groups, the incidence rate stabilises between 270 and 280 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The 60-74 age group continues to have the lowest incidence rate with 176 cases per 100,000 residents, whereas in the 15-29 age group the incidence rate has the highest incidence rate with 324 cases per 100,000 residents.

Quarantine and isolation

For the week from 22 to 28 March, 3,183 people were in isolation (+16%) and 5,456 in quarantine (+16% compared to the previous week).

Contaminations

For the 1,684 new cases, the family circle remains by far the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 41.1%, followed by the education sector - especially the secondary education (8.3%), the work place (5.8%) and leisure activities (3.3%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable increased to 34.6%.

It should be noted that a large cluster was detected following a private party of secondary school students. In this context, the Ministry of Health would like to remind you of the health measures in place, particularly with regard to the conditions emitted during gatherings, and once again stresses the importance of respecting protective measures in general. More information on the health measures can be found here.

Vaccinations: update on the situation

For the week of 22 to 28 March, a total of 12,312 doses were administered. 9,480 people received a 1st dose and 2,832 received a 2nd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered to date to 92,574 (1st and 2nd doses).

The schedule of the amounts of doses to which Luxembourg is theoretically entitled according to the pro rata of 0.14% of the Luxembourg population, as provided for in the contracts already concluded by the Commission with the various manufacturers, as well as the amounts already delivered to the Grand Duchy to date and expected to be delivered by the end of April 2021, can be consulted in the attached weekly report (PDF).

According to the information available to date, Luxembourg will thus have enough vaccines to vaccinate 129,030 people by the end of April 2021. It should be noted, however, that the amount of doses is subject to adjustments from week to week, based on manufacturers' production capacities and deliveries.

The evolution of the variants

For the week of 15 to 21 March, the population sequencing coverage was 34.4%, well above the optimal rate of 10% recommended by ECDC in order to have an optimal representative sampling.

Regarding the representative sampling of 1,570 tests carried out for calendar week 11/2021, the following distribution of variants can be observed:

• The UK variant (B.1.1.7) represents 68.1% of the cases
• The South African SA variant (B.1.351) represents 23% of the cases

Wastewater monitoring in Luxembourg as part of SARS-CoV-2 

According to the latest CORONASTEP report drawn up by the LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology), the level of contamination of the 13 treatment plants sampled during the week of 22 to 28 March still indicates a high prevalence of the virus in waste water at national level, but the slight upward trend observed at the beginning of the week of 22 March does not seem to have been confirmed in the second sample. This result will have to be confirmed by the analyses performed in the coming weeks.

All CORONASTEP reports are available on the LIST website: https://www.list.lu/en/covid-19/coronastep/.

Press release by the Ministry of Health, the Laboratoire national de santé (LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)