For the week of 4 to 10 October, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has increased from 591 to 675 cases (+14%), as well as the number of their identified close contacts, which increased to 3,540, compared to 2,827 cases the week before (+25%).
Among the 675 new infections, 364 people were not vaccinated (53.9%) and 311 people had a complete vaccination pattern (46.1%).
Among hospital admissions, 10 out of 15 patients in normal care were not vaccinated (5 had a complete vaccination pattern), while 3 out of 5 patients of intensive care were not vaccinated.
The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 4 to 10 October has increased from 14,621 to 15,544.
12 people reported a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) for the reporting week, compared to 10 the previous week, bringing the number of positive results performed by a health-care worker to a total of 341. Since the introduction of self-tests, 804 positive results have been reported (with 0 cases for the week of 4 to 10 October). It should be noted that positive RATs are not included in the calculation of the positivity rate.
As of 10 October, the number of active infections has increased to 1,200 (from 1,115 on 3 October), while the number of people healed increased from 76,571 to 77,159. The average age of those diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 has increased from 29.1 to 32.7 years.
For the week of 4 to 10 October, 2 new deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported.
In hospitals, the situation has slightly eased with 15 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care and 5 occupied beds in the intensive care unit (compared to 8 the previous week). The average age of inpatients increased from 56 to 57 years.
Positivity rate and incidence rate
For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) remained fairly stable at 0.99 (compared to 1.05 the previous week). The positivity rate on all tests performed (prescription, contact tracing) slightly increased from 4.04% to 4.34%. A similar trend can be observed for the positivity rate for tests carried out on prescription, i.e. for people with symptoms.
The 7-day incidence rate increased to 106 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 93 per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week.
Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has increased in all age groups, except in the 0-14 age group (-17%). The largest increase was recorded in the 75+ age group (+71%), followed by the 15-29 (+37%) and the 35-44 age groups (+33%).
The highest incidence rate is recorded in the 0-14 age group with 167 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The lowest incidence rates are recorded in the 60-74 and 75+ age groups.
Quarantine and isolation
During the week of 4 to 10 October, 1,382 people were in isolation (+11%) and 3,456 in quarantine (+6%).
Contaminations
For the 675 new cases, the family circle remains the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 30.8%, followed by education (18.3%), leisure activities (6.3%) and travel abroad (5.9%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable remained stable at 30.8%.
Vaccinations: update on the situation
For the week of 4 to 10 October, a total of 5,867 doses were administered. 1,896 people received a 1st dose, 2,711 a 2nd dose and 1,260 a 3rd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 12 October to 794,540. 410,457 people have a complete vaccination pattern, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 74% of the eligible population (i.e. the 12+ population).
Upcoming events of the "Impf-Bus on tour"
The vaccination bus will be present at the following events:
16/10/21 10am – 1pm, LuxExpo (HomeExpo)
16/10/21 8:30 am – 12:30pm, Cactus Bascharage
18/10/21 11am – 3pm, Zone industrielle Differdange / Sanem (Haneboesch)
20/10/21 11am – 3pm, Cloche d'Or – Boulevard de Kockelscheuer
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 4 to 10 October still shows a high national prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 flux values. In spite of sometimes large fluctuations on a weekly basis, the level of SARS-CoV-2 can be considered to have remained fairly constant for several weeks, indicating that the virus is still circulating in the population.
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)