Denmark, Like England, Removing All COVID-19 Restrictions from 1 Feb

By
Charleen Teh
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Once is happenstance, two is a coincidence, three is a pattern.

Following the announcements of COVID-19 restrictions being lifted from the United Kingdom (UK), France, Ireland, and the Netherlands in the last two weeks, in spite of the high number of Omicron cases flooding the European continent, Denmark has decided to remove its remaining COVID-19 restrictions next week.

After a month-long lockdown two weeks ago, Denmark had already begun loosening COVID-19 restrictions by reopening cinemas and music venues, though opening hours, curfews, and mandatory face masks remained in place.

 Danish Government Actions

In a letter written to the government, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke stated that the government has chosen to follow the recommendations given by an expert panel to withdraw all COVID-19 restrictions.

The decision is still subject to parliamentary approval, but the extent of COVID-19 restriction scrapping proposed by the Danish government is by far, the most far-reaching compared to its neighbouring countries.

The written letter allows for nightclubs to be reopened, for restaurants to continue serving alcohol again after 10pm, and it won’t be necessary for customers to present vaccine passes in order to enter.

Commuters don’t need to take the public transport with masks on and shops can lift the curb on customers’ numbers.

If these changes attain parliamentary approval, the only rules that will be kept are those concerning test and isolation upon entry to Denmark, which will continue onwards for another four weeks.

Similarly, the UK has removed its masked mandates and its limitations on public establishments.

France won’t stop its local authorities from reinforcing mask mandates in crowded places, and it still requires its citizens to show proof of full vaccination upon entry.

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Current Conditions in Denmark

The reason behind the easing of COVID-19 restrictions stem from the same reasons as other countries:

  1. The case numbers are dropping from below the peaks,
  2. The symptoms caused by the predominant Omicron variant is less severe;
  3. The hospitalisation rates have been much lower than initially anticipated,
  4. Most of its population has already been vaccinated.

In terms of vaccination rates, Denmark rivals Singapore in that four out of five people have already received two jabs, and more than half of the population have already been administered their booster shots.

Of course, the Danish government doesn’t plan on just stopping there either.

The lawmakers are starting to offer a fourth jab to the most vulnerable citizens, like the elderly and immunocompromised.

For the second and third point, the Head of the Danish Health Agency, Soren Brostrom proclaims that “We are in a better position than we had anticipated and feared. We can now with considerably more certainty that this new virus variant, which is now predominant, causes less disease.”

Denmark recorded a total of 46, 590 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday (24 Jan), and the number of coronavirus-related hospitalisations rose t0 918, the highest in the years.

However, the health authorities estimate that between 30% to 40% of the hospitalised with a positive COVID-19 test are there for other reasons than COVID-19.

In an expert advisory report dated 21 Jan, it noted that there has been a gradual separation between the applicable trend from earlier in the pandemic, where the increasing infection rates usually matched increase in COVID-19 hospitalisations.

The number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU have fallen to 44 on Tuesday (25 Jan) from 82 on 6 Jan.

Therefore, most of the circumstances are pointing towards a good trajectory of recovery, for both the people and the economy. 

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Charleen Teh
Email: [email protected]