Coronavirus in Denmark: Normalization proceeds apace

On Thursday evening, the Danish administration negotiated an agreement (DK) with all of the other parliamentary parties to reopen additional sectors of the economy besides the schools and day-care centers. The agreement to expand the first phase of the reopening was based on a memorandum issued by Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the agency under the Ministry of Health responsible for handling infectious diseases. The memorandum presented scenarios of the risk of further infection under the relaxation of various restrictions. The other parties, which were not consulted about the original reopening plan, were generally satisfied with the agreement, although some had hoped that even more restrictions would be lifted. The announcement was made in press release (DK) and in a post on Prime Minister’s Mette Frederiksen’s Facebook page, which includes what appears to be an automatic translation into English (for example, a very happy emoji is rendered as “I’m sorry”).

Time for that overdue haircut

The revised guidelines take effect on Monday, April 20. The main economic segment that can resume activities is professional services and certain small service businesses such as hairdressers and driver education.  Courts and research laboratories can also open on April 20. The agreement allows for initiatives to resume visits to the elderly and provide support for distressed children and families. The agreement also calls for the establishment of “sector partnerships” under which other industry associations and organizations can negotiate with the authorities on the timing and degree of reopening. The SSI recommended against opening restaurants and boarding schools.

As an adjunct to the relaxation of restrictions, SSI set forth a strategy for testing frontline staff, vulnerable groups, relatives of patients, and representative sample of the population in order to monitor the spread of the infection. Negotiations on phase two of the reopening will begin next week.

Both the administration and the SSI stress the importance of continuing social distancing. Some observers, for example Allan Randrup Thomsen, Professor of Experimental Virology at the University of Copenhagen, warn that there is a danger that people will interpret the expanded reopening plan to mean that the danger has passed and that they can resume their old habits. SSI’s memorandum (DK) showed estimates of the number of hospitalizations if the population continued to practice social distancing, if only half practiced it, and if none did. Even under the second scenario, with half the population adhering to the guidelines, the number of hospitalizations and ICU patients would continue to decline. According to the SSI’s model, if professional services resume normal activities, the chances that in three months hospitalizations would be above the current level was less than 20 percent.

Nurseries without teddy bears

On Wednesday, many schools and day-care centers across Denmark reopened. About half of the municipalities requested additional time before opening. Children were described as being happy to see their friends again but sometimes disappointed that they couldn’t hug. Teachers and day-care staff were adjusting to the new guidelines, for example that desks are two meters apart and pupils could not gather in groups of more than two inside and five outside. 

The kindergartens and nurseries were struggling with the extensive rules on limiting contact. For example, parents could not enter the facilities, and children could not bring extra clothing or their own teddy bears and toys. They had to sit two meters apart and were allowed to play only with plastic toys that could be washed frequently. Staff meetings have to be held outside or by telephone. Denmark is the first country in Europe to reopen its schools. Austria, which allowed the resumption of small businesses this week, will not reopen the schools until next month.