Fifty-three new cases on Monday, 92 new infections on Tuesday and 108 positive cases on Wednesday: infections are evidently on the rise again in Luxembourg. According to the head of the National Health Directorate, Dr Jean-Claude Schmit, there is in fact a direct link between the celebrations that took place on National Day and this significant increase in new infections.
In an interview with RTL, Dr Schmit described National Day as “a very special situation where many people spontaneously gathered, especially in the capital”. Many of them did not respect social distancing and did not wear masks, which is “definitely a risk factor”, Dr Schmit explained.
The majority of those who have tested positive in the last few days were young people who have not yet been vaccinated, according to the head of the National Health Directorate, who added that it is “very probable” that the Delta variant is already at the origin of most coronavirus cases in Luxembourg. This might be confirmed by the data obtained through sequencing, which is, however, slow to arrive.
In this context, Marco Cavaleri, head of the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) vaccine strategy, stated on Thursday that two doses of an approved vaccine “protect against the Delta variant”. A statement based on “emerging data from concrete evidence”, he assured.
Dr Schmit stated that, in his eyes, the risk remains for unvaccinated people, which is why “the Covid-Check system must be applied consistently”. He took the opportunity to call for people to respect this system in order to avoid new restrictions being put in place, stressing that “everyone must take responsibility, cheating does not help anyone”.
Luxembourg recently lifted a series of restrictions and allowed, via a new system called Covid-Check, many nightlife businesses to reopen their doors and welcome their first guests after months of closure.
Weekly review: New Covid-19 infections experience 19% increase
