Coronavirus DK: Winners and losers from the new border policy

On Friday Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that on June 15, Denmark would allow tourists from Germany, Norway and Iceland to visit Denmark as long as they stayed at least six nights outside of Copenhagen. Danes likewise could travel to these three countries and were advised to avoid large cities. The plan drew criticism from the opposition parliamentary parties and the Copenhagen tourism industry. The reactions continued yesterday.

Summerhouse rental agencies in Jutland (DK) were suddenly overwhelmed with bookings from both Germans and Danes. Meanwhile, tourism officials in Copenhagen tried to tote up the damage to the capital because of the ban on overnight stays. Mikkel Aarø-Hansen, the managing director of Wonderful Copenhagen, estimates that it will cost the city DKK 1.3 billion in revenue ($185 million) and will affect 1,400 jobs. That comes on top of a loss of DKK 4.25 billion ($600 million) already in the three months since the lockdown began.

Some healthcare researchers approve

“If you want to avoid people crowding together in the evening – since that is the situation we have seen in superspreader events,” says Jens Lundgren, Professor of Infectious Disease Medicine, “there is a good argument on healthcare grounds (DK) for not allowing tourists to stay overnight in the city.” Allan Randrup Thomsen, Professor of Virology, agrees: On a nice day, you see many people out at Nyhavn and Strøget (the main pedestrian street). You have to add tourists to them. Copenhagen has been the hotspot, and you don’t want to make it a larger one.

Danes must stick to the countryside

Danes also began to make vacation plans according to the restrictions (DK) on their travel to the three countries. Those who visit a city with more than 750,000 inhabitants must self-isolate for 14 days after returning. That limitation is irrelevant for Norway and Iceland, where there are no cities of that size, but it affects five cities in Germany, including Berlin and Munich. This is a travel advisory, not an absolute prohibition, says Erik Brøgger Rasmussen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “There will be no control of where people have been by the police at the airport. . . . But we expect that Danes will listen to the advice and guidelines as they have done throughout the coronavirus crisis.”

Danish tourists are also advised to follow the local guidelines on precautions when they travel. For example, in Germany people must cover their mouths and noses with masks or scarves when they enter shops and use public transportation, but in Norway there is no requirement on wearing a mask. The rules and recommendations may also vary from locality to locality within the countries, for example the limit on gatherings.

Swedish annoyance

In Sweden, the reaction (DK) to the country’s exclusion from the border policy met disappointment, as expected. Niels Paarup Petersen, a Danish-born member of the Swedish parliament, called it “a little hypocritical” that Denmark cannot tolerate its neighbors from Skåne (the southern region of Sweden), which has not been hurt badly by the pandemic. “Many Danes are running around in Skåne, and it is apparently not dangerous. But if some people from Skåne come to Denmark, it is dangerous.”

By far the greatest number of infections in Sweden, which has not ordered a strict lockdown, have occurred in Stockholm. The infection rate is actually lower in Skåne than in Zealand, the island where Copenhagen is located, says Mikael Damberg, Swedish Minister for the Interior. The Swedish Foreign Minister, Ann Linde, says that the country had hoped for a joint Nordic solution and is continuing its dialogue with the other countries in the region.

At the same time, the Swedish Minister for Social Affairs, Lena Hallengren, acknowledged that the country is still in the midst of the crisis (DK). The number of deaths rose to 4,395, in contrast to 571 in Denmark. Anders Tegnell, the state epidemiologist who designed the laissez faire policy, admitted that it was a mistake not to test skiers who returned from Ischghl, the Austrian hotspot.