Although the long anticipated vaccine rollout is well underway in Luxembourg, it has not really brought the relief and quick return to normal many had hoped for. 

This is partly due to new variant strains of the coronavirus that are spreading at a rapid pace in the grand duchy. Earlier this month, schools had been particularly affected by these new developments and the spread of the more contagious UK mutation, also known as B.1.1.7, leading education minister Claude Meisch (DP) to close primary schools as well as afterschool care facilities once again and return to online learning ahead of the carnival break. 

“We are preparing for everything”

“We see what’s happening in other countries. Countries where the UK mutation is circulating, for instance, increasingly experience problems. Of course, the probability that this could happen in Luxembourg exists, and then we would have to take additional measures once again. We are preparing for everything.” 

Indeed, fears of new variant strains and their spread are growing in a lot of countries, with Germany, for instance, having closed borders to so-called “virus variant areas”, including different regions in Austria and the Czech Republic. 

Should additional restrictions be necessary in the grand duchy, they could potentially target non-essential shops, schools as well as sports infrastructures and cultural venues, Schmit said, nevertheless adding that, at the moment, numbers, although high, were more or less stable and no exponential progression had been noticed in the past days which is why there was no necessity to take additional measures just yet.  

However, with the end of the carnival break and many residents returning from abroad, as well as pupils returning to classrooms, it remains to be seen what effect, if any, the holidays will have on the evolution of covid-19 infections in the grand duchy. 

On Friday, the chamber had voted in favour of another extension of the current covid-19 restrictions, including the closure of restaurants, bars and cafes as well as the 11pm-6am curfew, until at least 14 March.