Five stories you may have missed

Photo: Lex Kleren

Pregnancy during the pandemic

Luxembourg's maternity clinics are introducing stricter regulations to prevent the coronavirus from spreading in their wards, leaving gynaecologists and midwives in search of creative new ways to see their patients.

All key check-ups for pregnancies will be maintained, although under tighter conditions. In some hospital, partners can be present during the birth and visit new mothers while they remain in hospital but can no longer attend C-section births. In others, partners can attend the birth but are not allowed to visit afterwards.

When holiday havens turn into desert islands

Some 300 people from Luxembourg are stranded in 70 countries around the globe, unable to return home from holidays or work trips. The Luxembourg Times spoke to a lucky few who wrangled through as more and more countries close down their airports, and their borders.

One holidaymaker was out at sea for 10 days after her Caribbean island-hopping cruise was cancelled and sailed back to Europe.

Juggling work and childcare

Thousands of parents have spent the last two weeks trying to juggle working from home and looking after their children who can no longer go to school. We spoke to parents who are doing their best to hold the fort and teachers, who had to scramble to put together material for their students after being told they would have only one more day to see their students before they would switch to remote learning.

Drug dealing plummets

Drugs such as cocaine and heroin are harder to come by on the streets of Luxembourg since lockdown measures were introduced by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Abrigado, the only safe and supervised place to consume illegal drugs in the country, remains open despite the pandemic crisis. Staff now provide users with clean needles through a window and only six people are let into the drug consumption room at a time to respect social distancing. They also monitor overnight visitors' temperature to check they do not have fever, a symptom of the disease.

Shops' rents a big question mark

Non-essential shops have had to close their doors for the past 11 days, putting a huge strain on many small businesses which have to continue paying rent while no money enters the tills.

This week, local authorities in Luxembourg City, Dudelange and Esch-sur-Alzette said shops and restaurants renting their space will not have to pay rent during the lockdown. But the country's landlords advocacy group has told its members not to let shops renting their premises go rent-free during the period.

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