Although the delta variant remains the dominant (64.9%) in Luxembourg, omicron’s prevalence has increased sharply in recent weeks. The LNS screened 1,084 samples from week 51 of 2021 (13 to 19 December). Luxembourg residents represented 977 of the analysed swabs.

“Omicron is detected less frequently among hospital specimens, but more frequently than expected from previous variants among fully vaccinated individuals,” states the LNS in its report.

Special PCR tests designed to target the omicron variant were used in the screening and the LNS said it will increase the number of analysed samples due to the emergence of the new variant. 

These numbers must be interpreted with caution, highlights the LNS as potential omicron cases are prioritised for sequencing which may lead to an overestimation of the presence of the variant. Nevertheless, the sharp increase of omicron cases is evident, it said.

Luxembourg has seen an exponential increase in new infections, with weekly numbers 

The omicron variant of the coronavirus amounts to 34.9% of national cases collected towards the end of 2021, says the national health laboratory (LNS).