For the week of 19 to 25 July, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has decreased, for the 3rd week in a row, from 727 to 566 cases (-22%), as well as the number of their identified close contacts, which dropped to 1,599, compared to 2,431 cases the week before (-34%).
It should be noted that among the 566 new infections, 461 people were not vaccinated (81.4%) and 105 people had a complete vaccination pattern (18.6%).
The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 19 to 25 July has decreased from 49,884 to 43,736.
11 people reported a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) in the reporting week, compared to 9 in the previous week, bringing the number of positive RAT results by a health professional to a total of 258. Since the introduction of self-tests, 786 positive results have been reported, with 0 cases in the week of 19-25 July. It should be noted that positive RATs are not included in the calculation of the positivity rate.
On 25 July, the number of active infections had decreased to 1,236 (compared to 1,497 on 18/07), while the number of people healed increased from 70,667 to 71,493. The average age of those diagnosed as COVID-19 positive increased to 30.3 years, compared to 27.5 years the previous week.
For the week of 19 to 25 July, 1 new death related to COVID-19 has been reported.
In the hospitals, there were 17 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care, compared to 8 the previous week. In intensive care, the number of occupied beds remained stable at 4. The average age of hospitalised patients increased only slightly from 48 to 51 years.
Positivity rate and incidence rate
For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) decreased from 0.91 to 0.82. The positivity rate on all tests performed (prescriptions, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing) decreased from 1.46% to 1.29%. The positivity rate for prescription tests, i.e. for people with symptoms, remained stable at 4.19%.
The 7-day incidence rate decreased to 89 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 115 per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week. This is the 3rd consecutive week in which a decrease can be observed.
The incidence rate has decreased in all age groups, except for the age groups 30-44 and 75+. The largest decrease was recorded in the 15-29 age group (-37%). An increase was registered in the 75+ age group (+71%). This increase corresponds to 5 more cases than last week.
The 15-29 age group has the highest incidence rate with 206 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the 30-44 age group with 104 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. 71% of all cases last week were in the age groups 15-29 and 30-44 years.
Quarantine and isolation
During the week of 19 to 25 July, 1,588 people were in isolation (-18%) and 1,124 in quarantine (-38%).
Contaminations
For the 566 new cases, the family circle remains the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 27.3%, followed by travel abroad (13.6%) and leisure activities (13.2%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable increased to 36.6%.
Vaccinations: update on the situation
For the week of 19 to 25 July, a total of 30,676 doses were administered. 4,835 people received a 1st dose and 25,826 received a 2nd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered until 27 July to 694,898 (1st and 2nd dose). 336,173 people have a complete vaccination pattern.
It should be noted that the data on the number of people vaccinated has been adapted so that only the number of residents vaccinated is now taken into account. Indeed, since the opening of the vaccination to cross-border workers on 12 July and until 27 July, 1,515 cross-border workers have received their first dose in Luxembourg.
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 waste water treatment plants sampled by the LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology), during the week of 19 to 25 July, confirms the stabilisation of SARS-CoV-2 flux values at a high level, although lower than the values observed during the first half of July. A similar trend is observed at the level of individual treatment plants. It should also be noted that the estimated flows sometimes decreased to the point of detection limits during the month of July, such as in Schifflange, Grevenmacher, Troisvierges or Wiltz. This confirms a significant decrease in values at these treatment plants.
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)