Daily infection rate sets record, disregards vaccination efforts

Like other European countries, Luxembourg on Wednesday reported a daily infections record, with 1,053 new cases of the coronavirus diagnosed.

Out of the new cases diagnosed, the infection rate was 182.58 per 100,000 unvaccinated people versus 158.04 vaccinated people. In the weekly report from 20 to 26 December, also published on Wednesday, infection among unvaccinated people was twice as likely with 623.89 cases per 100,000, compared to 324.55 per 100,000 vaccinated people.

Luxembourg is in the process of rolling out booster shots, with an additional dose recommended five months after a complete vaccination schedule with the Pfizer/Biontech or Moderna vaccines, four months after AstraZeneca and four weeks after Johnson & Johnson, to increase immunity and better protect against the new omicron variant.

The so-called 2G+ CovidCheck system, requiring a self-test for people who have been vaccinated without a booster shot or recovered from infection, has been in force since 25 December in the hospitality sector.

Nearly a quarter of tests carried out on Tuesday came back positive on Wednesday (23.43%) with the reproductive rate at 1.12, above a target threshold of 1, meaning one person infects on another person.

One more person died after testing positive for Sars-CoV-2, bringing the virus death toll to 911. Nineteen patients received intensive care in hospital in addition to 47 people being treated on a regular ward for complications from an infection.

During the week from 20 to 26 December, 13 out of 19 intensive care patients weren’t vaccinated.