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Speculation is rife that hospitals could close to non-emergency patients as pressure mounts on staff and services amid the rapid rise in the number of covid-19 infections. Our archive photo shows the Robert Schuman hospital in Kirchberg, 18 March 2020Photo: Paperjam 

Health minister Paulette Lenert (LSAP) and prime minister Xavier Bettel (DP) have been saying since last Saturday that hospital capacity rather than the number of positive cases is the most important signifier of how the grand duchy is coping with the covid-19 pandemic. “What is most important is the hospital capacity, the pressure on services relative to the number of beds occupied. There are a number of different factors to consider,” Lenert has said.

However, the rapid rise in figures this week--from 122 reported on Monday to 595 on Thursday--cannot be ignored. “We will have to look at the figures and their evolution. And consider whether action is needed or not,” one cabinet minister has told our sister publication Paperjam.

And although covid-19 capacity is still being managed by hospitals, there is mounting pressure on the health services as a not insignificant number of staff have been infected by the virus. Approximately 60 CHL staff are currently in quarantine. At the Robert Schuman hospital, 14 staff have tested positive for covid-19 and a further 22 are in quarantine. Hospital representatives met with the minister of health on Thursday to discuss the situation amid fears that the government could move into phase 3 of the pandemic response for health services. That would mean non-emergency services at hospitals would be suspended.

Speculation about a possible crack down on the hospitality sector has also been rife since Wednesday, when the number of infections jumped from 230 to 416 in 24 hours. But “shutting down the hospitality sector alone wouldn’t make sense,” François Koepp, secretary general of the Horesca hospitality sector trade federation told Nicolas Léonard at Paperjam. “Schools must, in that case, also be closed, and therefore nurseries, supermarkets... The main places of contamination are, in my opinion, public transport, schools, families.”

Keep up to date with the most significant new covid-19 developments in Luxembourg with Delano’s rolling coverage.