up to 8,000 PCR tests per day in Luxembourg
While the waiting files have continued to grow in recent days across the country, the Minister of Health, Paulette Lenert, some details concerning the number of tests available in Luxembourg.
Is Luxembourg ready to face a wave of 5,000 to 7,000 positive cases per day? This was the subject of the urgent question asked by the deputy Georges Mischo (CSV) this Monday, January 10 to the Minister of Health, Paulette Lenert.
And this is reassuring. Yes, currently the laboratories are full, but the “limiting factor” in the number of tests is not related to the number of centers available in the country, but rather to the lack of personnel able to carry out the PCR tests.
Expand reinforcements
Thus, currently, three private laboratories are authorized to carry out tests, in addition to hospital laboratories and the national health laboratory. Even if a majority of tests are carried out in private laboratories, according to the minister.
To compensate for the lack of personnel in the face of the influx of patients, the government adopted in the short term and urgently on January 7, a Grand-Ducal regulation allowing medical assistants to carry out PCR tests and thus provide reinforcement.
An “extension of jurisdiction” which is based on the model of our Austrian neighbors and which will come into force today, Tuesday 11 January. “Other solutions will also be put in place to expand the reinforcements,” said Paulette Lenert in her response.
Emphasis on rapid tests rather than PCR
Currently, Luxembourg can perform around 7,000 PCR tests per day, which corresponds to around 11 tests per 1,000 inhabitants per day.
For comparison, Germany announced a few days ago that the country’s maximum capacity is 2.4 million tests per week, or 4 tests per 1,000 inhabitants per day.
“Luxembourg is therefore in a good European average”, praised the Luxembourg Minister of Health, while remaining cautious. “Some countries, like us, do not distinguish between PCR tests and rapid antigen tests, and thus give the impression that they have greater capacities.”
In Luxembourg, the emphasis will be more on rapid tests, in order to limit the need for PCR tests and keep these tests for “priority needs”. This will be the case in particular for the confirmation of infections in schools or an early release from isolation after a Covid-19 infection.
Paulette Lenert however specified that the government plans, as of this week, to increase its capacity of PCR tests with “at least 1000 additional tests per day”.
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