COVID-19 cases - Weekly review: 10 - 16 May

During the week from 10 to 16 May and for the 3rd week in a row, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 continued to decrease from 936 to 759 (-19.0%), while the number of their identified close contacts also decreased from 2,423 cases the previous week to 1,757 (-27.5%).

The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 10 to 16 May has decreased from 53,486 to 49,806.

204 people reported a positive rapid antigen test.  

As of 16 May, the number of active infections had decreased to 1,773 (compared to 2,168 on 09/05), while the number of people healed increased from 65,458 to 66,609. The average age of those diagnosed as COVID-19 positive remains rather stable at 32.2 years.

The number of new deaths also slightly decreased, with 3 deaths related to COVID-19, compared to 4 the previous week. The average age of the deceased is 83 years.

In the hospitals, there was a significant decrease in admissions of confirmed COVID patients, with 43 hospitalisations in normal care, compared to 56 the previous week. However, the number of people in intensive care has only slightly decreased from 32 to 29. The average age of hospitalised patients increased only slightly from 57 to 59 years. 

The two COVID-19 Consultation Centres (CCCs), located in Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, have recorded a total of 14,124 visits since their opening, including 293 visits for the week of 10 to 16 May, which is slightly more than the previous week (286). 

It should be noted that the COVID-19 Consultation Centres (CCCs) have been put on standby since 17 May 2021.

Positivity rate and incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) further decreased from 0.92 to 0.84, while the positivity rate on all tests performed (prescriptions, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing) also decreased from 1.75% to 1.52% (weekly average). A similar trend can be observed for the positivity rate for tests carried out on prescription, i.e. for people with symptoms, which dropped from 3.91% to 3.51%.

The incidence rate continues its downward trend for all age groups, with 120 cases per 100,000 residents over 7 days, compared to 147 cases per 100,000 residents for the week of 3 May. The most significant decrease is recorded in the age group 75+ years (-31%). A significant decrease is also recorded in the age groups 0-14 years (-26%), 30-44 years (-26%) and 45-49 years (-23%). The 75+ age group continues to have the lowest incidence rate with 22 cases per 100,000 residents, followed by the age group 60-74 years, with 59 cases per 100,000 residents. With an incidence rate of 109 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the 45-59 age group, which is the main target of the current phase of the vaccination campaign, is also starting to stand out from the other age groups under the age of 45. 

Quarantine and isolation

For the week from 10 to 16 May, 2,049 people were in isolation (-16.4%) and 2,701 in quarantine (-19.6% compared to the previous week).

Contaminations

For the 936 new cases, the family circle remains by far the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 45.6%, followed by school (6.3%), the work place (4.0%) and travel abroad (2.8%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable decreased to 37.9%.  

Vaccinations: update on the situation 

For the week of 10 to 16 May, a total of 43,646 doses were administered, setting a new record for the number of doses administered since the start of the vaccination campaign. 24,462 people received a 1st dose and 19,184 received a 2nd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered until 18 May to 297,351 (1st and 2nd dose).

The evolution of the variants

For the week of 3 to 9 May, the population sequencing coverage was 52.6%, well above the optimal rate of 10% recommended by ECDC in order to have an optimal representative sampling.   

Regarding the 397 samples carried out for calendar week 18/2021, the following distribution of variants can be observed: 

  • the UK variant (B.1.1.7) represents 81.1% of the cases
  • the South African SA variant (B.1.351) represents 6.8% of cases compared to 10.8% for week 17
  • the Brazilian variant (P.1) represents 4.5% of de cases

During the week 18/2021, 4 new cases of the Indian variant B.1.617 were detected in Luxembourg. 

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

The contamination level of the 13 analysed waste water treatment plants sampled by the LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology), during the week of 10 to 16 May, indicates a downward trend over the past weeks. 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)

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