Women contracted Covid-19 more often than men but had a lower risk of being hospitalised. More men also died of Covid-19 than women.

People in 'fragile socio-economic situations' have been disproportionally affected by Covid-19, according to a study by the National Health Directorate in cooperation with the research institute LISER and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (STATEC). The study found that people with incomes below €25,000 per year have the highest risk of contracting Covid-19 and being hospitalised because of the disease.
 
The higher someone's income, the higher the likelihood that they are vaccinated, which in turn leads to fewer infections and fewer hospitalisations. According to the study, the risk of hospitalisation was 1.6 times higher among those with incomes below €25,000 per year compared to those with incomes above €60,000 per year.
 
The standard of living is thus one of the key factors when it comes to Covid-19, besides age, sex, but also country of birth, Minister of Health Paulette Lenert explained.
 
Residents born in Portugal, for instance, had a relatively high infection rate but they were less likely to develop severe forms of the disease compared to other groups, according to the Minister. This was certainly helped by the high vaccination rate among Portuguese residents, Lenert added.
 
People born in a country that was part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had an above average chance of contracting Covid-19, but they were also hospitalised more often compared to other groups. Their risk of dying was also elevated. However, Lenert explained that this is likely not only due to the low vaccination rate among the community. Other contributing factors include access to information and the high number of vulnerabilities.
 
Women contracted Covid-19 more often than men but had a lower risk of being hospitalised. Twice as many men died of Covid-19 than women. Meanwhile, the study also found that the main factor contributing to a severe course of the disease is age.
 
Ioana Cristina Salagean from STATEC stresses that it is important to understand that these are correlations, not causations. Salagean explains that the differences based on socio-economic factors reflect the same differences that already exist when it comes to exposure to the virus. People contracted the disease at work, at home, in school, wherever they had social contacts, Salagean points out, adding that the implementation of the preventive measures was "not the same everywhere".
 
The study shows that there are "flaws" in Luxembourg's healthcare system that need to be fixed, according to Minister of Health Paulette Lenert.
 
In this context, Lenert highlights universal access to healthcare as a "key project". But preventive measures and "a general promotion of health, i.e. not just the fight against and the treatment of diseases but also a preventive promotion of a healthy lifestyle" are also a part of this, according to the Minister.
 
The data for the study were collected between 1 March 2020 and 27 October 2021, i.e. prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant.