Definitions in the Duchy

How does Luxembourg’s health ministry report its Covid stats?

Countries are dealing with the pandemic, including with viral surveillance. Different countries count and measure Covid-19 surveillance statistics in different ways. How does the Duchy of Luxembourg track the virus?

The Ministère de la Santé du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg publishes these figures. In England, a new case means a positive result from a viral test. That can include rapid tests, unless followed by a negative PCR test within 72 days. The Luxembourg ministry reports rapid test numbers — separate to positivity rate calculations.

Counting re-infections are another way that public health agencies and departments can differ. Luxembourg and England use the same ‘episode’ definition. Each agency only counts positive tests that are 90 days or more apart as a re-infection. For Public Health Wales, that window is 42 days.

Reinfections lie outside the headline reported figure in Luxembourg. In England, new confirmed cases include those with a previous recorded infection. That means Ministère de la Santé retains its measure of ‘nombre de personnes testées positives au COVID-19’.

The Luxembourg daily headline figures do not include recorded reinfections. (Image: R Pubs)

Also, the Luxembourg health ministry publishes five days out of seven. To smooth out “l’effet weekend”, the Ministère de la…