The Laboratoire national de santé (LNS) and the Ligue Médico-Sociale (Ligue) have registered a high demand for the COVID-19 tests offered to children during the first two weeks of their joint initiative. The tests, previously carried out in the Ligue’s Centres Médicaux-Sociaux (CMS) in Luxembourg City, Ettelbruck and Dudelange, will therefore soon be extended to the CMS in Wiltz.  

The testing campaign, which started on 25 November, is aimed at children aged between two and six. In the respective CMSs, specially trained paediatric nurses from the Ligue take nasal swabs. The samples are then transported by LNS staff to the laboratory in Dudelange, where they are evaluated, and an analysis report is drawn up. In addition to these tasks, the LNS also provides the necessary equipment such as swabs or packaging for transporting the samples.

Suitable for children: specially trained staff

Testing takes place from Monday to Friday between 8.30 AM and 12.00 PM. Particular emphasis is placed on a child-friendly approach. The paediatric nurses employed are pedagogically trained to involve the boys and girls in such a way that the atmosphere during the smear test is as relaxed as possible.

Parents who wish to have their children tested need a medical certificate. With this certificate, an appointment in one of the CMSs can be made on the League’s trilingual (FR/DE/EN) online platform (https://myligue.ligue.lu/en/prise-rendez-vous/CO/VID). If the child to be tested does not have a national identification number (Matricule), appointments must be made by e-mail at tracing@ligue.lu or by telephone: 22 00 99 66. The result of the test will be communicated by the LNS to the parents within 48 hours. In case of a positive result, an LNS doctor will contact the parents personally to communicate the result.

Complementary cooperation: Effective bundling of skills

Prof. Dr. Friedrich Mühlschlegel, Director of the LNS, is delighted that the LNS has again put the expertise of its team at the service of the fight against COVID-19 through complementary cooperation with another major player in the national health system: “The Ligue has been serving the country and its population for more than 100 years, and our daily work as LNS also aims to ensure the best possible healthcare for the inhabitants of Luxembourg and the Greater Region. The fact that we have developed comprehensive tests for children in a very short period of time also proves Luxembourg’s ability to pool together existing expertise quickly and efficiently. The way that parents have responded to the first two weeks of testing shows that we have once again succeeded very well in cooperating with the Ligue.”