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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) announced the continued closure and strict restrictions at a press conference on Tuesday night. This is due to the fact that the number of admitted covid patients is now record high.
On Tuesday, 22 people with Covid-19 were reported to have died in Denmark over the past 24 hours, which is the second highest daily figure so far during the pandemic.
900 covid patients are now hospitalized in the country. That’s much more than in early December, when the number was around 250 patients, says Mette Frederiksen at Tuesday’s press conference.
46 people in Denmark have been confirmed to be infected with the British variant of the virus.
In various places hospitals are forced to postpone and suspend planned operations. Therefore, the government decides to extend the current restrictions for another two weeks from January 3-17.
This means that all restaurants, bars, cultural institutions, shopping centers and all shops, except pharmacies and large supermarkets, will remain closed until January 17. This also means that many of the Danish schoolchildren will receive distance education during that period.
– But we see vaccination as a bright spot in the dark. Two days ago, the first person in Denmark was vaccinated, but we know we still have a few difficult months ahead, he says.
Health Minister Magnus Heunicke (C) agrees that the next few months will be challenging. The pressure on healthcare is increasing as many of those infected work in healthcare.
– We are facing a tough January and perhaps also a tough February. But everyone in all nursing homes is expected to get vaccinated in February, he says.
The Minister of Health sees concern that there may be a large number of carriers of hidden infections.
– That’s the last thing we need, says Heunicke.
The reproduction rate, which indicates how many people on average an infected person carries the infection, is now 1.2 in Denmark. This means that every time ten people are infected, another twelve new ones become infected, and therefore the virus continues to spread, he writes in his Twitter.
“The situation is extremely serious,” he writes.
The spread of infection in Denmark it started to increase dramatically in early December. On December 9, 38 municipalities chose to partially close as national restrictions were extended. At that time, the number of people infected with the coronavirus had increased between 20% and 25% per week in Denmark.
For much of the business community, the restrictions came as a death sentence and several industry organizations came out and demanded compensation and quick packages of measures.
But the restrictions were expanded nationwide on December 16 and in connection with that, all the country’s department stores were closed.
Just a week later, the closure also included hairdressers, masseurs, tattoo artists, universities and colleges. On Christmas Day, it was decided that all stores that did not have pharmacies or grocery stores would be closed.
A total of 1,226 people with covid-19 have died in Denmark.
Read more: Infection has increased 20-25 percent per week in Denmark
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