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During the night of Monday, Denmark decided to stop all air traffic from the UK to prevent the new coronavirus mutation from entering the country. But already on Saturday it was confirmed that Denmark has already had nine confirmed cases of the mutation, and now top Scania politicians are demanding that the border with Denmark be partially closed.
– This really goes against my DNA, I am basically a common labor market region with open borders. But the new mutated virus is up to 70 percent more contagious, we already have a high R number, and the burden at Scanian hospitals is very high with about 500 covid patients, says Carl Johan Sonesson (M), chairman of the regional board. in Skåne.
Denmark had Monday registered 3,198 new cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, according to figures from the Statens Serum Institut, Denmark’s infection control authority. 18 new deaths have been confirmed and 713 people are hospitalized, 52 more than on Sunday.
In a press release, the authority states that it is closely monitoring the new strain of mutated virus N501Y. So far, seven women and two men have been found infected. They live in the capital area and in North Jutland.
Carl Johan Sonesson now wants the Swedish government to close the border with Denmark over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
– I am fully convinced that the new mutation will reach Sweden anyway, but if we can buy ourselves some time and put it off a few weeks until mid-January, when the vaccine will start rolling out on a broad front, that would be great, he says.
According to Carl Johan Sonesson, the border closure would only apply to Danish shopping and leisure travelers, while those commuting to work in Sweden should still be able to enter.
– We have many Danes who work in our health care and it would be stupid to close the border to them, but I think that those who do not have a job or another very strong reason to travel to Sweden can be prohibited from coming here until January 13, which is the date in which the other general recommendations are established.
Sonesson says he has he has been in contact with the other politicians in the Greater Copenhagen border cooperation and has been listened to for their wishes. It is also said that he anchored the problem with the leader of the moderate party Ulf Kristersson.
– Most people have a great understanding and it is only a matter of three weeks. The question is whether we dare not have a chance for this to stop, we get this new mutation of the virus from Denmark, it soon risks spreading throughout Sweden.
Ulf Kristersson himself writes in a Facebook post on Monday supporting the demand for a closed border with Denmark:
“It is good that the government yesterday obeyed the demands of moderates and others, and was impressed by the outside world, so that Britain’s entry can be stopped. Unfortunately, it seems that the new variant of the coronavirus is also found in other countries Denmark has confirmed cases. The next step should be to temporarily close the border with Denmark for Danes who are tourists, shopping and having fun in Sweden. It is especially important during the Christmas and New Year holidays. “
Gilbert Tribo, regional adviser to the Liberals and chairman of the Skåne region health and medical care committee, has for several weeks demanded that the border with Denmark be closed.
– It should have happened a long time ago to reduce the spread of the infection, but now the reasons are even stronger with the new mutated variant of the virus. As recently as this weekend, I received reports of Danish tourists shopping for Christmas at the Helsingborg and Malmö malls, the proportion having risen significantly since Denmark introduced tighter restrictions a couple of weeks ago, he says.
Gilbert Tribo says he will very surprised if the Swedish government does not decide to close the border already on Monday.
– I want to save Scanian’s medical care, the situation is very tense in which we have had to cancel the planned surgical operations to free the staff for covid care. At the same time, we are preparing to launch a vaccination campaign. Now we must do everything possible to reduce the number of infections during the Christmas and New Year holidays. This is a drastic measure, but it is temporary and necessary, he says.
Even at the national level, there will be signs on Monday that closing a border may be relevant. In an interview in Morgonpasset on Swedish radio P3, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven says it may be relevant to stop travel from Denmark.
– We follow this very closely and are prepared to take the necessary measures, says the Prime Minister in the interview.
