New COVID-19 cases - Weekly review: 24 - 30 January 2022

The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has decreased from 15,293 to 14,918 cases (-2%) for the week of 24 to 30 January.

Among the 14.918 new infections, the incidence rate of positive non-vaccinated persons is 3,717 per 100,000 inhabitants and 1,782 per 100,000 inhabitants for those who had a complete vaccination.

Among hospital admissions, 26 out of 63 patients in normal care were not vaccinated (37 had a complete vaccination), while 8 out of 10 patients of intensive care were not vaccinated.

The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 24 to 30 January has decreased from 42,155 to 39,136.

239 people reported a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) for the reporting week, compared to 312 the previous week, bringing the number of positive results performed by a health-care worker to a total of 1,758. It should be noted that positive RATs are not included in the calculation of the positivity rate.

As of 30 January, the number of active infections has increased to 30,764 compared to 27,375 on 23 January, while the number of people healed increased from 114,752 to 126,269. The average age of those diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 is 28.3 years.

For the week of 24 to 30 January, 7 new deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported. The average age of the deceased is 81 years.

In the hospitals, there were 63 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care, compared to 58 the previous week. The number of occupied beds in the intensive care unit decreased from 14 to 10. The average age of hospitalised patients is 48 years.

Positivity rate and incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) decreased, with 0.88% compared to 1.27% the previous week, while the positivity rate on all tests performed (prescriptions, contact tracing) increased from 36.28% to 38.12%.

The 7-day incidence rate decreased to 2,350 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 2,409 per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week.

Re-infections as well as certified self-tests in schools were included in the calculation of incidence rates. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has increased in the 60-74 age group (+7%) and 75+ years (+6%). A slight decrease is recorded in the 15-29 age group (-6%) and the 45-49 age group (-7%). The lowest incidence rate is recorded in the 60-74 age group (795 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), while the highest incidence rate is recorded in the 0-14 age group with 6,074 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Quarantine and isolation

During the week of 24 to 30 January, 35,797 people were in isolation (+21%) and 10,250 in quarantine (-32%).

Contaminations

In view of the high number of new infections, the identification of sources is currently not possible for all cases.

The family circle remains the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 40.0%, followed by work (5.5%) and the care sector (3.2%). The percentage of undetermined sources has increased (41.6%).

Specific cases in the educational environment

During the week of 24 to 30 January 2022, 51 classes in 31 primary schools and 9 secondary schools were affected by a scenario 4 with more than 5 positive cases in the class.

Vaccinations: update on the situation

For the week of 24 to 30 January, a total of 22,593 doses were administered. 1,481 people received a 1st dose, 2,762 a 2nd dose and 17,948 people received a complementary dose to a full vaccination, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 31 January to 1,229,701.

475,495 people have a complete vaccination, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 79% of the eligible population (i.e. the 5+ population).

Validity of vaccination certificates for travel in Europe reduced to 9 months

From 1 February 2022, according to European regulation, the validity of vaccination certificates for travel in Europe will be reduced to 9 months after the primary vaccination.

The booster dose does not currently have an expiry date.

Don't miss the Q&A session on COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant and breastfeeding women!

To provide answers to unvaccinated pregnant and breastfeeding women who still have doubts and questions about COVID vaccines, the Ministry of Health has scheduled a Live Q&A on Thursday 3 February at 5pm focusing on COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.

Dr. Thomas Dentzer from the Health Directorate and Dr. Pit Duschinger, President of the Luxembourg Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, will answer live questions from the audience in 4 languages (French, German, Luxembourgish and English).

Viewers will be able to post their questions before and during the event.

To follow the live event, click on the following link: https://gd.lu/5dg7C0

"Pop Up" Vaccination: Lëtzebuerg léisst sech impfen

To increase vaccination coverage, the Government has decided to facilitate access to vaccination by deploying temporary vaccination spots ("Pop Up" Vaccination) and mobile teams will be present in high-traffic areas (pedestrian zones, shopping malls, events organised by some municipalities).

The list of all new vaccination spots is continuously updated and can be consulted on covidvaccination.lu.

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/revilux/revilux-week-52/

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 contamination level of the 13 wastewater treatment plants analysed during the fourth week of 2022 still shows a very high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater at national level. The current level of SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater treatment plants is very similar to that observed in October 2020, which was so far the highest level measured over the whole period analysed (March 2020 - January 2022). The general trend over several weeks, or even months, is clearly upwards.

At the level of the different treatment plants analysed, a very similar trend is observed, with SARS-CoV-2 levels comparable to the highest values observed, for almost all the 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 Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, the National Health Laboratory (LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)

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