COVID-19 cases - Weekly review: 30 August - 5 September

For the week of 30 August to 5 September, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has increased from 542 to 573 (+6%), while the number of their identified close contacts has decreased from 1,514 to 1,112 cases (-27%).

Among the 573 new infections, 420 people were not vaccinated (73.3%) and 153 people had a complete vaccination pattern (26.7%).

Among hospital admissions, 76.7% of normal care patients and 100% of intensive care patients were not vaccinated.

The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 30 August to 5 September has decreased from 27,349 to 29,057.

3 people reported a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) for the reporting week, compared to 4 the previous week, bringing the number of positive results performed by a health-care worker to a total of 287. Since the introduction of self-tests, 804 positive results have been reported (with 0 cases for the week of 30 August to 5 September). It should be noted that positive RATs are not included in the calculation of the positivity rate.

As of 5 September, the number of active infections has increased to 1,052 (from 913 on 29 August), while the number of people healed increased from 73,929 to 74,361. The average age of those diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 has slightly increased from 31.4 to 31.7 years.

For the week of 30 August to 5 September, 2 new deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported.

In the hospitals, there were 22 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care, compared to 21 the previous week. The number of occupied beds in the intensive care unit increased from 6 to 9. The average age of inpatients increased from 46 to 60 years.

Positivity rate and incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) decreased to 1.04 (1,11 the week before). The positivity rate on all tests performed (prescription, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing) remained stable at 1.97%. The positivity rate for tests carried out on prescription, i.e. for people with symptoms, also stabilised at 6.19%.

The 7-day incidence rate increased to 90 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 85 per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week.

Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has increased in all age groups, except in the 15-29 and 60-74 age groups. The largest increase was recorded in the 30-44 age group (+16%), followed by the 0-14 (+13%) and the 45-59 age groups (+12%).

The highest incidence rate is recorder in the age group 0-14 years, with 127 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The lowest incidence rate is recorded in the age groups 75+ and 60-74 years.

Quarantine and isolation

During the week of 30 August to 5 September, 1,240 people were in isolation (+21%) and 820 in quarantine (-16%).

Contaminations

For the 573 new cases, travel abroad remained the most frequent source of transmission of infections with 31.8%, followed by the family circle (25.2%) and leisure activities (6.3%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable decreased to 28.6%.

Vaccinations: update on the situation

For the week of 30 August to 5 September, a total of 7,401 doses were administered. 3,584 people received a 1st dose, 3,757 a 2nd dose and 60 a 3rd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 8 September to 769,652. 395,384 people have a complete vaccination pattern.

As of 2 September, the vaccination rate of people aged 18 and over with a complete vaccination pattern is 71.5%. Luxembourg is in 12th place out of the 30 European countries listed by the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Upcoming events of the "Impf-Bus on tour" 

The vaccination bus will be present at the following events:

• Thursday, 9 September from 11am to 6pm at "Fun um Glacis"
• Saturday, 11 September from 2pm to 6pm at the "Ettelbrooklyn Street Fest"
• Saturday, 11 September from 4pm to 8pm at the "Fête du raisin et du vin Grevenmacher"

The next stops of the "Impf-Bus on tour" will also be announced on www.covidvaccination.lu

Please note that the vaccination can be done without appointment (identity card and CNS card required). People who come for their 2nd dose must also bring their vaccination certificate for the 1st dose.

The evolution of the variants

Variant sequencing data are published every Friday on the website of the National Health Laboratory (Laboratoire national de Santé, LNS): https://lns.lu/en/departement/department-of-microbiology/revilux/.

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

The contamination level of the 13 analysed wastewater treatment plants sampled by the LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology) during the week of 30 August to 5 September shows a high national prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 flux values. A further increase in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 was observed during this week, but with values similar to those recorded over the past few 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)