During the week from 29 March to 4 April, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 decreased from 1,685 to 1,544 (-8.4%), while the number of their identified close contacts also decreased from 4,129 cases the previous week to 3,464 (-16.1%).
The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 29 March to 4 April has increased from 67,052 to 79,883.
130 people reported a positive rapid antigen test.
On 4 April, the number of active infections was 3,556 (compared to 3,571 on 28.03.), while the number of people healed increased from 56,762 to 58,302. The average age of those diagnosed as COVID-19 positive decreased to 36.5 years.
The number of new deaths decreased, with 19 deaths related to COVID-19, compared to 20 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 111 hospitalisations in normal care, compared to 107 the previous week. The number of hospitalisations in intensive care has increased to 29 compared to 21 the previous week.
The two COVID-19 Consultation Centres (CCCs), located in Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, have recorded a total of 11,508 visits since their opening, including 586 visits for the week of 29 March to 4 April, which is lower than the previous week (661).
Positivity rate and incidence rate
For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) decreased to 0.88% compared to 1.12% the previous week, while the positivity rate on all tests performed (prescriptions, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing) also decreased, with 1.93% compared to 2.51% 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 5.67% to 4.02%.
The 7-day incidence rate is 247 per 100,000 residents. Note that for the week of 22 March, the incidence rate was 269 cases per 100,000 residents over 7 days. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has decreased for all age groups, except for the age group 30-44 years (+6%). The most significant decrease is recorded in the age group 75+ (-42%), followed by the age groups 0-14 years (-18%) and 60-74 years (-16%).
The 60-74 and 75+ age groups now have the lowest incidence rates with 149 and 155 cases per 100,000 inhabitants respectively. The 15-29 age group has the highest incidence rate with 317 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Quarantine and isolation
For the week from 29 March to 4 April, 3,466 people were in isolation (+9%) and 4,732 in quarantine (-13% compared to the previous week).
Contaminations
For the 1,544 new cases, the family circle remains the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 34.5%, followed by the education sector (4.5%) and the work place (4.0%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable increased to 47.9%.
Vaccinations: update on the situation
For the week of 29 March to 4 April, a total of 19,333 doses were administered. 15,240 people received a 1st dose and 4,093 received a 2nd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered until 6 April to 108,940 (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 128,447 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 22 to 28 March, the population sequencing coverage was 32.4%, well above the optimal rate of 10% recommended by ECDC in order to have an optimal representative sampling.
Regarding the representative sampling of 548 tests carried out for calendar week 12/2021, the following distribution of variants can be observed:
- The UK variant (B.1.1.7) represents 74.1% of the cases
- The South African SA variant (B.1.351) represents 18.1% 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 29 March to 4 April still indicates a high prevalence of the virus in waste water at national level. An upward trend was observed throughout the week, but contamination levels remain in the same range as over the last 3 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)