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 28 November to 4 December 2022.

During the week in question, the number of Luxembourg residents testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 1,164 to 1,214 (up 4.3%). There were an additional 784 reinfections, i.e. 39.2% of all people who tested positive compared to 721 (38.2%) the previous week.

The number of PCR tests carried out increased from 7,271 to 7,542 over one week.

Nineteen people reported a positive rapid antigen test for the reference week, bringing the number of positive results following such tests carried out by a healthcare professional to a total of 3,786. Note that positive rapid antigen tests are not taken into account in the calculation of the positivity rate.

As of Sunday 4 December 2022, the number of active infections increased to 2,915 from 2,763 the previous week and the number of people having recovered from the illness rose to 303,730 (up from 302,676). The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 was 43.9 years.

Eight 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 22 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients to normal care (compared to 23 one week earlier). There was one patient in intensive care. The average age of hospitalised patients stood at 67 years.

Positivity rate & incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) increased to 1.06 (1.03 the previous week) and the positivity rate on all tests carried out rose from 16.01% to 16.10%.

The incidence rate rose to 188 cases per 100,000 residents over seven days, compared to 180 cases per 100,000 residents for the previous week. Adding reinfections, the incidence rate was 311 cases per 100,000 residents over seven days and 608 cases per 100,000 residents over fourteen days. Reinfections as well as certified self-tests were included in the calculation of incidence rates by age group.

Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate increased among people aged 0 to 59 (up 9%) but decreased among those aged 75+ (down 9%). The lowest incidence rate was recorded among 0-4 year-olds (101 cases per 100,000 residents), whilst the highest incidence rates were recorded among those aged 90+ (552 cases per 100,000 residents), 30 to 39 year-olds (450 cases per 100,000 residents) and 85 to 89 year-olds (431 cases per 100,000 residents).

Vaccinations: update

For the week of 28 November to 4 December, 1,406 vaccine doses were administered: nine people received a first dose, 22 received a second dose, 81 received a first additional dose compared to a complete vaccination schedule, 1,249 received a second complementary dose and 45 received a third complementary dose (no one received a fourth complementary dose during the week in question), thus bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of Monday 5 December 2022 to 1,292,351.

A total of 474,860 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).

Temporary closure of the Victor Hugo vaccination centre

The Victor Hugo vaccination centre in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg will be temporarily closed from 24 December 2022 to 2 January 2023.

Other vaccination-related information is available online at https://impfen.lu/en/.

Contact tracing

Contact tracing has been adapted in light of the new COVID-19 law: individuals who have tested positive should self-isolate. To receive an isolation order, complete the self-declaration form with the reference REFCP on the website: https://covid19.public.lu/en.html.  An SMS from the following dispatch number - (+352) 621-203000 - will also be sent to individuals with a positive test result. Further information is available on the website: https://covidtracing.public.lu/home.

Wastewater monitoring

According to the latest CORONASTEP report, published every two weeks by LIST, the level of contamination of the thirteen treatment plants analysed during weeks 47 and 48 of 2022 showed a still high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. The situation seemed to be quite stable compared to the previous two weeks, although a very slight upward trend could be observed from week 47. The next results may confirm this trend. All CORONASTEP reports are available on the LIST website: https://www.list.lu/en/covid-19/coronastep/.