Three Covid-19 deaths since weekend as infections climb up
There have been a further three deaths from Covid-19 in Luxembourg in the past week, with the number of new infections continuing to climb, according to figures released by the Health Ministry on Wednesday.
Three deaths linked to coronavirus were registered since the weekend, the highest number in such a short period of time in a month. A total of 833 people have now died as a result of Covid-19 in the Grand Duchy.
Both Wednesday’s daily and weekly figures pointed to worrying signs that infections are slowly rising, with a 6% increase in positive cases in the week from 30 August to 5 September. By contrast, the numbers testing positive in the last week of July showed a drop of more than 20%.
It comes as Luxembourg is set to keep its current public health measures – which expire next week - largely unchanged as the new school year gets underway, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Health Minister Paulette Lenert said last week.
In the daily numbers released yesterday, a total of 97 new infections were recorded, a drop from previous days but the figure has consistently remained well above 100 for each day over the past week.
Of the 573 new Covid-19 cases from 30 August to 5 September, a quarter were among people who had already been fully vaccinated, the ministry said.
The number of patients admitted to hospital as a result of Covid-19 remained stable at 22, with nine people in intensive care. Three-quarters of those hospitalised and under normal supervision had already been vaccinated, although all of those admitted to intensive care were unvaccinated, according to the data.
The average age of those infected with Covid-19 in the past week remained unchanged at 31 years old, while 60 was the average age of those hospitalised.
More than three-quarters of a million vaccine doses have now been administered in Luxembourg, with just under 400,000 people having received both doses, corresponding to 71% of all adults aged 18 and over.
That puts the country almost mid-way in a ranking of 30 European nations for vaccination rollout, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Unvaccinated people in Luxembourg will have to pay for PCR tests themselves from 15 September onwards, which is when the country's free large-scale-testing scheme ends.
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