Coronavirus DK: Confusion over testing policies at the border

Several political parties are criticizing the government for not following stricter policies for travelers (DK) arriving in Denmark. They say that all people from countries with a high infection rate should present a recent negative test for the coronavirus or be tested on arrival. The current practice is inconsistent and insufficient, they maintain. Some arrivals from so-called “quarantine countries” with a “worthy purpose,” such as a job interview, must present a negative test. In other cases, people attending a funeral or a business meeting, for example, can enter freely. It is optional whether they submit to a test on arrival.

Are the testing facilities even being used?

Testing facilities were set up at Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen on June 15. Since then, some 25,000 people have entered Denmark there, but the number who have presented tests or have been tested is unknown. “We have said that Danes must comply with guidelines,” says Peter Skaarup of the Danish People’s Party. “And then we see, for example, a flight from Islamabad that brought a large number of infected people to Denmark.” Arrivals from high-risk countries should also be quarantined, added Skaarup.

Other parties agree that the current policy is not effective. Although testing is available at the airport, the facility is not prominent. All arrivals should be met by a test team that offers them a test, says Kirsten Normann Andersen, health care spokesperson for the Socialist People’s Party. They should be isolated until we know they aren’t infected, continues Normann Andersen, and that includes all travelers from other EU countries.

One test is not enough

But according to virologist Allan Randrup Thomsen, a negative test is no guarantee that one is free of infection. Tests may not be reliable in the country of origin, and one can become infected after testing negative. “To be certain, people should actually be tested twice at a few days’ interval,” says Randrup Thomsen. “And during that time they should be isolated, if this system is to function optimally.” Randrup Thomsen doesn’t think it is worthwhile to test travelers from all EU countries, however. If the infection rate is below the limit of 20 per 10,000, then the testing would involve much work and identify very few cases. The tests also produce some false positives.

Rasmus Horn Langhoff, health care spokesperson for the governing Social Democratic Party, agrees “with the intention to ensure that we protect Denmark from the coronavirus as well as possible. . . . I’m sure that we can do it better than we do today. And we very much want to look into this.”

Swedes sail to Denmark in vain

The confusion was no more evident than regarding the new regulations for arrivals from neighboring Sweden (DK). The country, which has followed a singularly laissez-faire policy regarding the coronavirus, has about the highest infection rate in the EU. It is one of the EU six countries that Danes are not allowed to travel to. There is an exception, however, for three regions in southern Sweden close to Denmark. Even residents of these quarantine regions are subject to certain requirements, however. If they do not have a valid purpose, such as work or family in Denmark, they must present a negative coronavirus test taken within the previous 72 hours. 

The Swedish media and a ferry company announced incorrectly that a negative test was not required, and the Danish police that manage border control at the ferry terminal in Helsingør had also received incorrect information at first. This led to chaos at the border as many Swedes on the ferry were turned away (DK) and had to sail back to Sweden. The ferry company, Sundbusserne, which had waited three months during the lockdown before opening the route, announced that it was canceling the route again.

Coronavirus DK: Summer traffic, youth programs, test milestone

Saturday was the start of the summer vacation period in Denmark. Schools had just closed for the summer, and the government approved travel to most EU countries. It was also skiftedag (changing-day) at summer house resort regions, the day of the week when  rentals start – last week’s renters leave and the new week’s arrive.

There was traffic advisory for the highways (DK) because many people have chosen to spend their vacation in Denmark and others are heading to Germany, one of the original three countries approved for summer travel. They’re driving because the destinations are close and there’s less risk of infection in comparison with sitting on a plane and passing through crowded airports. So they encountered lines on the main roads out of Copenhagen and at the German border.

Here you can read the official rules and guidelines for travelers entering Denmark (in English).

More soldiers and students

The Danish military services (DK) have increased the number of recruits they will take this year and next in order to give opportunities to young people who are not able to pursue other plans. After high school, many young Danes take a gap year to travel or study abroad, and this year they aren’t able to. Youth unemployment always rises in times of crisis, and it is important to help young people get a good start in life, said Defense Minister Trine Bramsen: “Training in the Defense Forces opens doors in life, and therefore I think we should contribute to the current challenge.” 

The number of additional spots is only about 150; it is limited by the availability of training facilities and instructors. Last year there was a total of about 5,000 recruits in the Defense Forces and the Emergency Management Agency. Earlier, Danish universities announced that they were adding 5,000 spots in technical and health care programs in order to accommodate young people who have trouble finding work during the recession.

More tests

More than 1 million tests (DK) for the coronavirus have now been performed in Denmark. In the beginning of the outbreak, people with symptoms were encouraged simply to self-quarantine, but after pressure from the WHO and others, the Health Authority stepped up its testing program significantly. It set up temporary tents in several cities and offered tests to anyone who suspected they had been exposed to the virus in an effort to gain a more complete idea of the extent of the infection.

The 1-million figure doesn’t mean that 1 million people have been tested, though, because some have been tested more than once. Around 800,000 people have been tested out of the population of 5.8 million. The testing has identified 12,675 cases, and the number of hospitalized patients has fallen to a mere 31.

More protest infections

One of the recent findings of the testing program is the infections stemming from the Black Lives Matter (DK) demonstration on June 7. The event caused concern because it was attended by some 15,000 people, many of them standing close together and chanting and few of them wearing masks. The number of new infections identified from the demonstration has remained low, however. It has now risen to 10 or 12, although it is unknown how many who attended have been tested. 

Coronavirus DK: It's party time, virus be damned

In recent days we have seen photos of packed beaches in the UK and headlines scolding the Brits for flouting social distancing principles. On Friday, the hottest day of the year and the beginning of school vacation, it was Denmark’s turn to be tempted by the water. People took to the beaches (DK) and open areas along the canal. In some spots they lay on towels less than one meter from one another, but few were worried about the risk of infection.

“It seems like there is better control of it [the coronavirus] here than in the UK,” said one. “I wouldn’t have done this a month ago,” said another. Most seem to think people should try to return to normal habits again, as long as they’re reasonably careful. They had sanitizer with them, and if someone came too close, they would edge away. In contrast, there is plenty of space at the beaches in western Jutland.

Upholding traditions

This is the week for high school graduation (DK). I have written about the graduates getting permission to ride around town in a large trailer carousing and making a racket. There are several other traditions connected to the event, and some of them may not be advisable while the coronavirus is still at large in the country. “It’s a matter of how large a risk you accept in order not to ruin the traditions,” says Søren Riis Paludan, Professor of Virology and Immunology at Aarhus University, who was asked to evaluate the dangers of the various practices.

• Graduation ceremony: A potential superspreader event. Hundreds of people sit close together indoors. The graduates shake hands with the principal when they receive their diplomas. Some schools have taken the precaution of making them drive-in events.

• Trailer ride: An obvious risk because the young people stand close to one another yelling and cheering, but it helps that the trailers are open.

• Jumping in fountains: Not much additional risk, unless someone who is infected splashes others. But if more than one class goes in the same fountain, they could create new chains of infection.

• Biting hat brims: That’s right, the studenterhue (high school graduate cap) is the main symbol of graduation, and classmates bite on the brims of one another’s hats. It's  supposed to bring luck, so many may have trouble foregoing those teeth marks  despite the clear risk.

• Buffets: On the drive around town, the young people stop at everyone’s home, where the parents serve them snacks and drinks. Sharing food, such as large bowls of chips, is certainly a bad idea. It should be divided up into separate portions. There is also a separate risk for parents, who are more likely to develop a serious illness than the young people. They should keep their distance.

• Beer pong: Let’s see, should you drink from a glass of beer after a ping pong ball handled by several people lands in it?

• Sharing drinks throughout the day and evening: It’s very common to pass around a bottle of Carlsberg. “That’s obvious – you should avoid it,” says Riis Paludan. “We’re almost back with the whistle in Ischgl.” Ischgl is the Austrian ski resort where bartenders used referee’s whistles to get through a thick crowd and let customers try them. Hundreds or thousands of Europeans, including at least 139 Danes, caught the infection there in February and March.

Coronavirus DK: EU border patrol – who’s safe and who’s not

The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the first set of European countries that Danes can travel to (DK) as of today, June 27. It consists of 25 countries, a large majority of the EU. Excluded are only Romania, Portugal, the UK, Ireland, Malta and Sweden. “Today’s relaxation of the travel advisory shows that both Denmark and most of Europe are in much better condition than we dared hope only a short time ago,” said Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Frequent updates

The main criterion for allowing travel to a country is that the infection rate is under 20 per 100,000 inhabitants in the preceding week. The list will be updated every Thursday. If a country exceeds the limit while Danes are staying there, travelers are urged to return to Denmark and be tested for the coronavirus. Citizens of these countries may also travel to Denmark if they have reservations for at least six days. Certain regions of the countries may have significantly higher infections than the national average, and SSI, the agency responsible for preparedness against infectious diseases, will maintain a separate list of them.

Regional outbreaks 

This comes at a time when Europe has seen an increase in cases for the first time in the weeks since most of the countries began to relax their lockdown measures. About 20,000 new cases and 700 new deaths are being recorded daily. According to Dr. Hans Henri Kluge, European Regional Director of the WHO, “30 countries have seen an increase in new cumulative cases over the past two weeks. In 11 of these countries, accelerated transmission has led to very significant resurgence.” 

The reproduction rate in Germany (DK), for example, has recently risen from 1.06 to 1.79, and a large outbreak at a slaughterhouse in the Gütersloh region necessitated the resumption of strict lockdown measures. The WHO’s European Region, however, is a much larger area than is covered in Denmark’s travel advisory. It comprises 54 countries and extends to the Middle East and central Asia. Kluge expects the resurgence to subside during the summer but warns that the situation could worsen in the fall, when seasonal influenza and pneumonia return.

Yankee, stay home!

The EU is also preparing its list of countries where the pandemic is so widespread that their citizens will not be welcome when it reopens its external borders on July 1. Along with other disaster cases such as Brazil and Russia and several developing nations, the United States has attained the distinction of being considered too risky. The list is not final yet, but it appears that the EU is prepared to forego the substantial tourism and business travel from America in order to uphold its standard. The benchmark is the average number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, which is also used for the Danish travel advisory. The figure for the EU as a whole now stands at 16. The level in the US is 107.

See Denmark first 

The Danish rejsepas (travel passport) was sold out (DK) on Friday morning. All 50,000 passes that went on sale three days before are gone, as many Danes have chosen to hold their summer vacation in Denmark this year and to use collective traffic. The card gives access to all train, bus, metro and light rail in Denmark for an 8-day period from July 27 to August 9.

Coronavirus DK: Second wave or paranoid gossip?

There have been several local outbreaks of the coronavirus in the past couple of weeks since restrictions have been relaxed. More than 40 people at the Vendelbocentret nursing home in northern Jutland were infected. Entire school classes and their teachers have been quarantined, and half of the people who attended a large party at a restaurant in northern Zealand have tested positive. Is this the start of the second wave?

Most researchers and officials say no (DK). The number of new cases per day has been in the double digits for six weeks, usually below 50. That’s far below the peak of 473 on April 3. “As long as the virus isn’t eradicated, we must get used to these small outbreaks,” says Jan Pravsgaard Christensen, Professor of Immunology at University of Copenhagen. “Apart from the concentrated outbreaks, there are only minor instances.”

Mantra: Test, trace and isolate

“The problem with such infections is that if you don’t do anything, they have exponential growth,” says Claus Thorn Ekstrøm, Professor of Biostatistics at University of Copenhagen. The key is to trace contacts and break the chain of infection. Danes have behaved well, but we must not let ourselves be lulled to sleep before the “last, difficult mile,” says Thea Kølsen Fischer, head of research at North Zealand Hospital, who notes that a second wave arose in South Korea at a nightclub one weekend in May.

Known unknowns and unknown unknowns

The researchers warn that the summer season brings unknown factors that can increase infections: the heat, more socializing and drinking, tourists from abroad. “A superspreader may be someone who sheds a large volume of the virus or someone who speaks with many people,” continues Christensen. “No one knows for certain yet.”

Pandemic rumors

The researchers’ optimism may not give much comfort to some of the employees of Vendelbocentret, who have been subject to behavior "bordering on  harassment" (DK). One was told to leave a supermarket, and the husband of another was sent home from work. “We are both angry and disappointed that our employees are getting such bad treatment,” says Arne Boelt, Mayor of Hjørring Municipality, who notes that the staff are working under difficult conditions and taking many precautions. 

When people are insecure, they begin to seek information, says Michael Bang Petersen, Professor of Infection Psychology at Aarhus University, “and we know that they also have a tendency to get carried away with rumors.” The best protection against corona gossip, Bang Petersen advises, is for the authorities to give out as much information as possible.

Local suppression strategy

Since the outbreak, the municipality, which has also identified outbreaks at schools and mink farms, has taken intensive measures to contain the virus (DK). Nursing home employees work in heavy protective outfits. Some 20 medical students have been trained to conduct tests and have been sent to visit 3,000 elderly people who live at home. The municipality wants to test as many as possible twice, so the project will take two or three weeks to complete.

Coronavirus DK: Halftime for a divided Parliament

On Monday, Parliament held its last session (DK) before the summer break, and as usual, all the parties took the podium to sum up their concerns. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen began, saying, “With our shared strength, we have won the first half of the battle against corona. . . . We can be grateful. We can be proud. Denmark has done well. But we are not finished.” She urged the unemployed to take advantage of the educational and supplementary training opportunities in the stimulus package. 

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, chairperson of the Liberal Party, attacked the administration (DK) for its management of the coronavirus crisis. It has usurped some of the powers that should rest with Parliament, he said. “Denmark is in the middle of an economic crisis. We don’t know how deep it will be, but the government has made it worse” with its hesitant and fumbling reopening policies.

The usual bickering

Ellemann-Jensen criticized the latest stimulus package and particularly the DKK 1,000 payment to people who are not working and do not qualify to draw on vacation savings. Pia Olsen Dyhr from the Socialist People’s Party, which supports the administration, called the latter criticism “grotesque” because the Liberal Party had not opposed the package and the one-off payment when they were deliberated.

Aside from that exchange, very little of the closing debate concerned the pandemic. It covered the many topics that have gotten less attention than usual during the crisis: taxes, the climate agreement, immigration policy, the EU and racism. The latter topic, occasioned by the local BLM demonstrations, led to the most heated disagreements, with the right-wing parties denying that racism was a serious problem in Denmark.

The dreaded second wave

Some doctors are warning that, even though the epidemic is under control in Denmark, a second wave is likely (DK). “We shouldn’t believe that the virus is gone and will never return,” says Lars Østergaard, a specialist in infectious diseases at Aarhus University Hospital. Along with two other researchers, Østergaard wrote in an opinion piece that “a second wave seems unavoidable.”

Opinions have been divided about the likelihood of a relapse. In a press conference in May, Kåre Mølbak, the head of SSI, the agency responsible for preparedness against infectious diseases, said that a second wave was very unlikely. The organization itself had actually taken the opposite position in a report before the press conference. 

The three researchers note that the low infection rate in the country leaves a vast majority of the population – 98 percent – still vulnerable to the virus. “With so few people infected, it is in any case likely that there will be a second wave if we don’t prepare ourselves that it could come.”

Elusive network effects

More than 300,000 people have downloaded the Smittestop app (DK), which is intended to track and control the spread of the virus. The app, which is based on technology from Google and Apple, had been delayed because of concerns about privacy. It is unknown what percentage of the population needs to use the app for it to be effective in containing the virus. 

A study from Oxford concluded that 60 percent is necessary. It will be difficult to attain that degree of usage in Denmark because many people appear to think that the epidemic has passed and are returning to their pre-coronavirus behavior. Despite minor recent outbreaks, there are now only 37 people hospitalized and seven ICU patients in the country.

Coronavirus DK: Recovered cases, protesters & dog test positive

Some persons who have recovered from COVID-19 are testing positive (DK) for the coronavirus. In a study at Aarhus University, around 20 percent of 200 persons tested still had the coronavirus four weeks after they had recovered from the illness. Martin Tolstrup, Lecturer in Infectious Diseases, made the study in order to determine whether the patients had antibodies against the illness and also tested them for the virus. “We are very surprised at the high number who are still positive,” he said. The patients no longer had symptoms, but the researchers do not know whether they are infectious or how to interpret the persistence of the positive results.

“I have reached out to several other researchers, but no one knows,” continues Tolstrup. “There are reports from abroad about a reactivation of the virus.” In South Korea, some recovered patients tested negative and later tested positive. Some of the patients in Tolstrup’s study had both antibodies and the virus. Tolstrup has not seen any indication that these patients are infectious, but others are conducting contact-tracing to see whether they have infected anyone recently.

But are they infectious?

Jens Lundgren, Professor of Infectious Disease Medicine at Rigshospital in Copenhagen, is not surprised by these results. “It can take up to four to six weeks before the PCR test [for the virus] tests negative. We do not expect that it is an infectious virus.” Lars Østergaard, Professor of Infectious Disease Medicine at Aarhus University, agrees but notes that it is not certain that recovered patients cannot infect others. “If they prove to be infectious, that of course raises new questions about how we contain the virus.”

Potential superspreader event

More people who attended the Black Lives Matter demonstration (DK) on June 7 have been found to be infected. At least three additional cases have been identified. Attendees had been warned of the risk of infection before the demonstration, in which 15,000 people participated, many standing very close together and chanting. After the demonstration, they were urged to undergo a test, but it is unknown how many have done so. BLM held smaller protest demonstrations in other Danish cities as well. Political demonstrations are exempt from the limit on the number of people who may gather together.

First Danish pet with coronavirus

Several days after reports of coronavirus infections at a mink farm in northern Jutland, the virus has been identified in a dog (DK) at the same farm. It is the first time a pet in Denmark is known to have been infected. The dog’s owner was instructed to treat the dog according to the same guidelines as the people on the farm. It must “avoid contact with other animals and people outside the household,” said Mogens Jensen, Minister of Environment and Food. The Ministry does not believe that the dog will spread the infection, “but we must keep it away from sick people in the family,” said Peter K. Embarek, an expert in food-borne illness outbreaks. 

Coronavirus DK: German summer exchange program

Many Danes are following the Health Authority’s travel guidelines (DK) and avoiding summer trips to southern Europe. The Ausfahrt travel agency, which sells drive-yourself vacations in Germany, has seen a large demand since June 15, when the government opened the borders to three countries. Of them, Germany is the most convenient for road trips. People are choosing out-of-the-way destinations over large cities in order to minimize the risk of infection from mixing with crowds and standing in lines. 

And that is sensible, according to healthcare researchers. “Traveling by plane and passing through airports poses high risks,” says experimental virologist Allan Randrup Thomsen. “It’s better to travel in your own car, where you have your own little cabin.”

Financially safer too

It also has financial advantages, says Vagn Jelsøe of the Danish Consumer Council. “The safest is a car trip with hotel reservations that you pay for after each night.” That is because if you buy a plane ticket or make a hotel reservation in advance, you may have to cancel them if the pandemic becomes worse in the country and travel there is prohibited again. If the airline doesn’t cancel the flight, you won’t get a refund. Another solution is a package trip from an agency that offers cancellation insurance, adds Jelsøe, but you must make sure that the terms and conditions are clear.

After the border to Germany opened, the government announced that travel would be allowed to additional European countries beginning on June 27, but some people have chosen not to travel abroad at all this year. Reservations at Danish summer houses have risen. “The situation is unstable,” says Randrup Thomsen, “and you cannot plan a trip many months in advance.

The feeling is mutual

Germans are also showing great interest (DK) in visiting Denmark this summer. There were long lines of cars at the border on the day it opened because travelers must show documentation for their reservations. Retail businesses in southern Jutland also report a large turnout. “There are actually more people than there were at the same time last year,” says Thomas Hansen, the manager of a supermarket in Søndervig. “That is probably because we are not traveling out in the world. Our German guests have just waited until they could come to Denmark.”

“Our reservations are five times higher than normal,” says Ivan Kern Andersen, owner of Dråby Strand Camping. Like the summer houses on the west coast of Jutland, the camp grounds have had an above-average number of Danish visitors in the spring, but they could not make up for loss of business from Germans. The number of tourists is expected to increase further when schools go on vacation. “They say they have missed us,” says Thomas Hansen.

Subsidy for biking and hiking

The government is also trying other measures to increase travel in Denmark. In the month of July, it is proposing to make ferry trips between Danish islands free of charge (DK) for people traveling by bicycle and on foot. “This crisis has been hard. Not least for the peripheral regions in Denmark,” says Simon Kollerup, Minister of Business Affairs, who wants to “support the economy, which is more vulnerable on the small islands.” 

The ferry companies and regions with many ferry routes such as southern Funen welcome the plan, but the opposition parliamentary parties do not consider it a serious remedy that will restore jobs in the tourism industry. “A Band-Aid on an open fracture,” said Troels Lund Poulsen, the financial spokesperson for the Liberal Party.

Coronavirus: The Hjørring mutation and Big Brother

I wrote recently about two separate reports of outbreaks of the coronavirus in Hjørring in northern Jutland, one at a nursing home and another at a mink farm. Officials have now determined that it is the same mutation of the virus (DK) that occurred in both locations. “We have used our brand-new genetic tool on tests from the mink from the farm in Sindal, the mink breeders who are sick, and the residents of the nearby Vendelbocenter [nursing home],” said Anders Fomsgaard, a virus researcher at SSI, the agency for preparedness against infectious diseases. “And we can see that it’s the same virus. They have infected one another.”

Who infected whom, mink or man human?

Well, at least one of them infected the other, but Fomsgaard cannot yet say who had the virus first. All the mink on the farm, more than 10,000, were slaughtered. At the nursing home, 12 residents and 29 staff were found to be infected. The Hjørring municipality has also found infections among pupils at three schools. The pupils had connections to the other infection sites. Another mink farm in the municipality is being investigated. 

Officials are trying to determine how the outbreak originated. The mutation appears to be unique to these locations. “It does not appear in the virus in other places in Denmark or Europe, so this apparently has not been a foreign infection,” said Fomsgaard. Several coronavirus outbreaks have occurred at mink farms in the Netherlands, and more than 500,000 mink have been slaughtered.

The app is finally ready

Last week the Health Authority launched an app (DK) intended to help people avoid the coronavirus and break chains of infection. The app, which is called Smittestop (Infection Stop), works by bluetooth monitoring. Persons who are infected register the infection in the app, and when they are within one meter of another person for 15 minutes, the other person receives a warning in the app. The notification does not identify the infected person by name.

Questions about effectiveness and privacy

The app, which was developed by Netcompany, was originally described as being “free” (DK). Later, its cost was estimated at DKK 10 million, and now it is up to DKK 20 million ($3 million) for use only during the last six months of this year. Its development was delayed because of a security feature on iPhones that blocked its functioning. Data from contacts is saved only on people’s phones and not in a large database.

Concerns about privacy have been paramount. Nevertheless, some people are skeptical about the app (DK), sometimes for contradictory reasons: It won’t work; it comes too late; people won’t use it; it’s the start of an authoritarian surveillance society. Why delay notification for 15 minutes when you might already have become infected?

1.6 million users and zero results

Several countries have had problems with contact-tracing apps. A similar app in Norway was discontinued because officials decided they should not gather a large amount of personal data when the number of infections was very low. More than 1.6 million Norwegians downloaded the app, and it has not led to a single positive coronavirus identification. But that’s not necessarily bad news; it’s an indication of how safe Norway is.

Coronavirus DK: Opening for travel in Europe

The government has changed its policy on foreign travel. “I understand very well that there are Danes who in the months we have been through have a desire for a clarification regarding incoming and outgoing travel,” said Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who presented the new plan along with Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup.

Objective criteria

Beginning on June 27, the government will allow travel between Denmark and EU countries (DK), the Schengen Area and the UK on the basis of objective criteria. The most important measure is the infection rate in a country. Other criteria concerning the number of tests will be determined later. The limit is 20 infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week. Countries with fewer infections than that will be designated as “Open.” Countries with 20 to 30 infections per 100,000 will be designated as a “Quarantine Country, ”and those with more than 30 infections will be closed.

SSI, the agency for preparedness against infectious diseases, will update the list every week, and if the infection rate rises in a country, its status can be altered. Currently, all European countries except Portugal and Sweden qualify for Open status. Foreign tourists entering will still need to book a reservation for at least six days, except for people who live in border regions such as Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Tourists from a Quarantine Country must present negative coronavirus test results from within the preceding 72 hours.

Regional exceptions

Special conditions apply to Nordic countries. If a region has an infection rate below the limit, travel will be permitted. This is especially pertinent for the the Skåne region in southern Sweden. Swedish officials have been complaining that its citizens were not given access to Denmark like its other neighboring countries, Germany and Norway. Unnecessary travel outside of Europe is still strongly discouraged, and there are no plans to change that advisory.

Laissez-faire Sweden is the outlier

The list of registered cases is based on data from Johns Hopkins University. For the week ending June 17, it shows that Sweden had 75 cases per 100,000, Portugal had 20.2, the UK had 13.7, and all others had fewer than 10. The level in Denmark was 4.8, which was slightly higher than that of France and Italy and slightly lower than in Spain.

Opposition and tourism industry still dissatisfied

Several other parliamentary parties have been pressuring the government (DK) to relax the travel restrictions. “This is a step in the right direction,” said Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, chairperson of the Liberal Party. But these parties are still unhappy that travel outside of Europe is not permitted. Recently the SAS and Norwegian airlines announced that they would reopen a number of international routes on July 1. The parties also find the six-day reservation requirement arbitrary. “It is completely destroying the hotel industry,” said Søren Pape Poulsen, the chairperson of the Conservative Party.

If we let everyone in, answered Hækkerup, “we would risk importing infection chains and be forced to roll back the reopening.”

Coronavirus DK: Stopping infections at protests and mink farms

Minister of Health Magnus Heunicke says that the health authorities will issue guidelines for large political demonstrations (DK) in order to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. At least one person who attended the Black Lives Matter demonstration on June 7, along with 15,000 others, has tested positive, and other people who were part of the closely packed crowd are urged to be tested. 

Event arrangers “will get a very concrete evaluation from the Danish Patient Safety Authority on how they should conduct the demonstration purely from a healthcare perspective,” said Heunicke. He stressed that this measure will not abridge people’s constitutional right to stage political demonstrations, which are the only exceptions allowed to the restrictions on the number of people who may attend gatherings. On June 8 the limit on gatherings was raised from ten to 50.

More requests for tests

Since Heunicke urged demonstration participants to be tested, the number of referrals for tests has risen (DK). The day after, there were 400 more bookings than usual. “I thought it was an opportunity to take responsibility for what I did and to see whether or not I have been infected,” said one person at the Test Center, who had worn a face mask and tried to keep a distance from other demonstrators. Despite the rise in bookings for the tests in the capital region, the testing is still below capacity.

Flashmob with precautions

BLM was to hold another demonstration (DK) on Thursday, and the spokesperson for the organization, Bwalya Sørensen, says that it would use special measures to prevent the spread of the virus. It bought 250 face masks, it had lots of sanitizer, and it would divide participants up into groups of 50 or fewer. “We have chosen a flashmob instead of a demonstration,” said Sørensen. “We have done it simply to keep the number of participants down.” More than 100 people have signed up for the event. 

After the demonstration on June 7, Sørensen received criticism for issuing restrictions on the behavior of white people at the event. The Ritzau news agency wanted to ask her whether the guidelines would also apply at the new demonstration, but she hung up the phone.

Virus infiltrates key export product

A coronavirus outbreak has been identified in a new location, a mink farm in northern Jutland (DK). The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration has tested 34 mink and placed restrictions on the farm. The herd in question will be slaughtered, and the farm will be quarantined. Mink breeding is an important industry in Denmark, which is the largest mink breeder in the world, with almost 1,400 mink farms.

This is the first time the coronavirus has been discovered at one of them. The infection probably came from an employee or the owner the farm, say the authorities.There were coronavirus outbreaks at two mink farms in the Netherlands in April. 

“We will be completely certain that we do all that we can to limit the infection,” said Mogens Jensen, Minister of Environment and Food, “also among mink.” The ministry is investigating how the infection arose and preparing a testing strategy for other mink farms in the region, among other measures. Healthcare researchers are not worried (DK) that the infection will spread from mink to people and say that pet owners shouldn’t be afraid that their dogs and cats will make them sick.

Coronavirus DK: Getting used to micro-outbreaks

As I’ve reported before, even though the COVID-19 epidemic is under control in Denmark and the number of new infections and deaths continue to decline, the danger of the infection spreading is not gone. There have been at least three episodes recently that concern the health authorities and the crisis task force.

Nursing home in remote region

Until last week, northern Jutland was one of the safest places in the country if you wanted to stay out of the way of the coronavirus. But now, in the town of Hjørring, at least 29 residents at a nursing home (DK) and a total of 50 in the municipality have been identified as infected. Two schools and one company have also identified infections. The municipality is working to limit the outbreak. 

All health care staff and nursing home residents in the municipality will be tested, and staff at the nursing home where the outbreak occurred will be tested every week. Visits to the nursing home have been stopped temporarily. The classes with infected pupils have been dismissed for the last few weeks of the school year, and the employees at the company, Novo Nordisk, have been sent home. The municipality has been praised by researchers for its strategy to contain the outbreak. “Hjørring will be a litmus test” for responding to new outbreaks, says Søren Ris Paludan, Professor of Virology at Aarhus University. “The big task ahead of us is to minimize the infection while keeping society open.”

BLM demonstration, as predicted

According to he Danish Patient Safety Authority, which is in charge of contact tracing, at least one person at the Black Lives Matter demonstration (DK) on June 7 has been identified as infected with the coronavirus. Minister of Health Magnus Heunicke has asked everyone who attended, some 15,000 people, to get tested, even if they do not have symptoms. Many people stood very close together, few of them wearing face masks, and it is a classic situation that is vulnerable to superspreaders. The attendees had already been encouraged to be tested, and some have done so. Now all of them are urged to be tested again because the infection sometimes does not manifest itself for several days. There were also smaller demonstrations in other cities in Denmark during the same week.

Import from South Asian hotspot

The Patient Safety Authority reported that six passengers on a flight from Pakistan (DK) to Copenhagen on June 6 were infected. At least four of them were infectious during the flight, and the Authority is in the process of tracing their contacts and all the passengers who sat close to them. Travelers from countries other than Germany, Norway and Iceland are urged to undergo quarantine for 14 days after their arrival. 

“It may be several days from the time a person is infected to the time he or she tests positive, and the person can infect others in that period,” says Anette Lykke Petri of the Authority. The week before, 20 persons of Pakistani ancestry in a single municipality were found to be infected, and since then nine others have been identified. The Authority cannot comment on the possible relation between the passengers and the earlier cases.

We will have to live with these “micro-outbreaks” (DK) for some time, says Paludan, and if we can react quickly and contain them, we won’t need to roll back the reopening. We must still observe social distancing guidelines, he adds, and be especially careful if the infection comes into our proximity.

Coronavirus DK: Opinion surveys on risky travel and racism

A survey made by YouGov for the B.T. tabloid shows that a certain number of people are disregarding the travel restrictions (DK) set forth by the government and Health Authority. According to the advisory, before the borders to three countries opened on June 15 Danes were to avoid unnecessary travel and if they did travel, they were to undergo 14 days’ quarantine after they returned. The ban covered neighboring Sweden, where many Danes have summer houses. 

In the survey made on June 5 of 1,255 persons representative of the Danish population, some 4 percent responded that they had traveled abroad in the past month, and of those, 45 percent said that they had not quarantined themselves afterward. If the figures are extrapolated to reflect the entire country, they correspond to 8,400 adults who, after being abroad, returned to their workplace and frequented supermarkets and restaurants without first undergoing quarantine. According to Allan Randrup Thomsen, Professor of Virology at University of Copenhagen, it is very likely that there is a superspreader among that number. “It is thoughtless and inconsiderate that they do not comply with the rules that we are all subject to.”

More tabloid readers will flout advisory

In a separate survey of the newspaper’s 55,000 readers, 11 percent of them said that they intended to take a vacation in a country that the government has forbidden because of the risk of infection. Thomsen warns against the risk of the infection spreading from hotspots where many tourists gather and reminds us that in March relatively few skiing tourists from a small area in northern Italy and Austria were responsible for spreading the virus throughout Western Europe. It is possible that B.T.’s readers are less likely to comply with recommendations than those of some other newspapers, but it is also possible that they are more representative of the Danish population.

Since June 15, people in Denmark may travel to three countries – Germany, Norway and Iceland – without undergoing quarantine afterward. If you travel to other countries, it is not against the law not to quarantine yourself, but your employer may require you to do so. And if an employer forbids employees to travel to other countries beforehand, you can be fired for doing so.

News flash: Danes don’t think they’re racists

Another poll indicated that just over half of Danes do not think that racism is a problem (DK) in Denmark. Some 51 percent answered that they disagreed either completely or to a great degree with the statement that racism is a widespread problem in the country. Some 32 percent agreed completely or to a great degree. The breakdown among various demographic segments was not surprising. A larger percentage of younger respondents, aged 18-29, say it is a problem, as do people who vote for left-wing parties, with the exception of the center-left Social Democrats. A large majority of voters for the other parties do not believe it is a problem. The survey was made after the demonstration against racism and police brutality that was held in Copenhagen on June 7. 

The results do not surprise Mira Skadegaard, a postdoc researcher at the Institute for Culture and Learning at Aalborg University. Most people in Denmark do not experience racism since by definition it is a minority of the population that is subject to discrimination, says Skadegaard. But there is now a greater awareness that racism exists, she continues, and that is positive because previously we have not talked about it much and have been in denial about it.

Racial or ethnic discrimination?

One possible problem with the survey may be that it does not capture opinions about the views on ethnic and religious minorities. Racial minorities in Denmark are very small, and issues involving discrimination have concerned mainly Muslims and immigrants from the Middle East, most of whom are not black. 

Coronavirus DK: Full summer stimulus package unveiled

The government and most of the other parliamentary parties reached an agreement on the next stimulus package (DK) Monday evening. The new program is intended to replace the original rescue package, which will be phased out at the end of the summer. In addition to the release of vacation savings and the one-off disbursement to people on transfer payments described earlier, it contains several features intended to support the Danish economy. 

The wage compensation for the self-employed (DK) will be extended one month and then stop on August 8, as will compensation for cultural enterprises. The period of unemployment benefits will be extended two months in order to give the jobless better opportunities to seek work and to give employers time to reestablish positions after layoffs made during the lockdown.

Support for the private sector

A state fund is being established in order to recapitalize large companies that are important to the Danish economy. It will thus serve as “investor of last resort” for businesses that have exhausted normal financing options. Some DKK 10 billion ($1.5 billion) will be placed in the fund. An export package will consist of DKK 500 million ($75 million) that will be used to ensure the solvency of otherwise healthy export companies that need a sure source of capital.

Denmark depends on exports

Exports account for half of the Danish economy (DK), and some 80,000 jobs in the sector were lost during the coronavirus crisis. Representatives of industrial employers and employees warn that the crisis is not over. “The situation is very serious, and I also think it has been a blind spot for ordinary Danes and also perhaps politicians,” says Claus Jensen of the Danske Metal trade union. Exports have not suffered as much as had been expected, but the industry leaders warn that if other countries’ economies do not recover quickly, Danish firms will not get orders and will need to make another round of layoffs.

“If we can afford to rescue hairdressers and restaurants,” continues Jensen, “we must ensure that what we live off of in Denmark also exists on the other side of the crisis.”

Salvaging the summer

Some DKK 700 million ($100 million) will be used in a so-called “summer package” (DK) that will support recreational and cultural activities for various groups during the summer. It will give children and young people opportunities to participate in summer camps, football leagues, swimming classes and the like. A certain amount is earmarked for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who have been hurt the worst by the closing of schools and recreational activities during the lockdown. In her New Year’s Day speech, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen promised to give special attention to foster children and other disadvantaged youths. 

The package will also include support for activities in natural surroundings for the elderly and other features that have not yet been settled. The government is working on a proposal to help the airline industry as well.

Coronavirus DK: Putting (their own) cash in consumers' hands

The government has announced that it will release wage-earners’ forced vacation savings (DK) to stimulate the economy. This measure is possible because of a change in the timing of vacation savings that is taking place this year. Some background: 12.5 percent of Danes’ earnings are deposited in a vacation account and released when the person holds vacation. Previously, you accumulated the savings in one calendar year and they were released after May 1 in the following year. Everyone has a right to five weeks’ vacation after one year’s employment. 

With the change, workers now earn their vacation days and accumulate vacation savings that they can withdraw in the same year. The transition to the new schedule ends in September 2020. The change means that the savings people accumulate in the transitional period will not be paid out for their vacation period in 2020 but rather are being placed in a collective fund, the Wage Earners’ Vacation Fund. The amount that workers are entitled to from this period will be paid out when the person reaches retirement age. It is intended to constitute a sort of forced savings that the Danish state has implemented previously.

Gauging the dosage

So now the government has reached an agreement to release some of these funds this year in order to stimulate the economy, which is undergoing a recession because of the lockdown. There is some DKK 100 billion ($15 billion) in the Fund. It will not release all the funds now, however, but rather three weeks’ worth, or 60 percent. The reasoning is that the recession will have long-term effects and the infusion of money into the economy will be more effective if it is spread out. The first instalment will be disbursed in October, and the parties will negotiate the timing of the release of the rest in the autumn.

The measure was raised during negotiations on the economic rescue plan with the other parliamentary parties. It was proposed by three right-wing parties and endorsed by both labor and industry associations. The latter estimate that the measure – the release of the entire Fund – will support 30,000 jobs. Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen presented the plan on Friday: “We will take it one step at a time,” he said when asked about when people will get the rest of their savings. “We want to release it in doses that have the most beneficial effect.”

The plan will mean that 3 million wage earners out of Denmark’s population of 5.8 million will receive a payment. For someone with an income of DKK 330,000 ($50,000), it will amount to DKK 14,700 ($2,200) in the first instalment and DKK 24,500 ($3,7500) in total.

Economists approve, others dissatisfied

Several economists support the measure (DK) and also the timing. They recall that in 2009, during the recession following the financial crisis, a fund for special retirement savings was released. Some 60 percent of the amount went to consumption and helped to keep the economy running. They suggest that the funds be released around the time that the temporary wage compensation program expires, on August 31. 

People on transfer payments (DK) have no wages and therefore no vacation savings. They include retirees, students, those on disability pensions, and welfare recipients. They will receive a one-off, tax-free payment of DKK 1,000 ($150). Three right-wing parties left the negotiations just before their conclusion, partly because of this feature. The Danish People's Party objected to the terms for retirees, as did the DaneAge Association (the counterpart to AARP), which argued that many of the elderly have a low income and would spend the money on consumption and thus support the economy. Other parties objected that people on transfer payments should not receive anything extra at all. 

Floyd protests DK: BLM’s problematic “antiracist” policies

As noted a few days ago, after the demonstration to protest racism and police brutality in the US last Sunday, many people wondered that the large crowd had ignored the precautions (DK) against the coronavirus. Regarding the debate about the risk (DK) of the infection spreading at the demonstration, Bwalya Søren, the spokesperson for Black Lives Matter Denmark, which arranged the protest, asked, “Are you so afraid that black people can get a little bit of rights?"

Since then, other questions have arisen about  BLM Denmark's management of the demonstration. When Sørensen spoke to the 15,000 people gathered in front of the Parliament building, she told the white attendees to move out of the way and let the blacks stand in front of the banners. 

Before the event, BLM Denmark had posted a series of rules on Instagram about “Protest etiquette for white folks” (DK). The rules state that whites should not talk to the press, they should not start chants, and they should not join in certain chants. For example, they should not chant, “I can’t breathe” because “Being choked and shot are not things happening to white folks in the same way as they are to black folks. . . . The black power fist falls under this too. These . . . are not for appropriation.”

Defense of segregation and unreported fundraising 

Making special rules for whites at the demonstration strikes some people as discriminatory itself and against the basic principle of the protest for equality. “I’m deeply shocked, and I think it is very un-Danish," said journalist Jeppe Søe. "It argues against its own cause.” When asked about that reaction, Bwalya Sørensen responded, “If you are dissatisfied . . . you should stay home. It is white supremacy.” 

Later, in a radio interview, Sørensen was asked about BLM's fundraising for the event. She acknowledged that the organization had not registered the money it had collected (DK) with the Danish Fundraising Board, that donors could not see what the money was being used for, and that the collection was therefore illegal. “But should I stop a movement to protest about George Floyd because I have to follow some rules?” she said. “Have you heard of civil disobedience?” she asked the interviewer and emphasized that the Danish government must say something about the killings in the USA.

Systematic white supremacy

Problems also arose planning a demonstration (DK) on Tuesday in Aalborg, a smaller city in northern Jutland. Other groups had arranged a demonstration to support the one planned by BLM – high school students, day-care staff students and the local office of Amnesty International. BLM objected that these groups planned to hold a demonstration in Aalborg on the same day that BLM wanted to hold one. Amnesty had already received permission to hold the demonstration before it knew that BLM also wanted to on the same day. It invited  Sørensen to speak at its demonstration and asked whether BLM could postpone its demonstration until the day after. 

Sørensen was insulted by the offer: “And so white people will drive us away. It is ‘white supremacy,’ racism and misogynistic garbage, to put it mildly. . . . That man is racist,” she said of Hans Hyttel, the Aalborg representative of Amnesty International. When asked what Hyttel had said, Sørensen replied, “Why should all of you at B.T. [the newspaper] be white? How many people of color are employed there? Why should you kidnap the agenda?”

Amnesty International canceled its planned demonstration and expressed its support for the BLM demonstration.

A passionate activist

Bwalya Sørensen, who is 53, came to Denmark from Zambia 34 years ago. She has been active in protest movements (DK) since the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe in 2015. She has campaigned for various causes, for example against poverty, for LGBT+ rights and in the debate on rape laws. Perhaps the first time she came to prominence was in a demonstration against the anti-Islamist Pegida organization at a train station in 2017. She can be seen protesting against the “Nazi pigs!” in this video (DK).

Coronavirus DK: Tourists, start your engines

Either because of pressure from the opposition parties and the private sector or the steadily declining number of infections, or both, the Danish government is relaxing some of its last lockdown restrictions ahead of schedule. As noted yesterday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democratic administration lifted the midnight curfew for large parties in restaurants and rented premises. 

On Friday it announced that is would ease certain aspects of its travel restrictions. On Monday, June 15, the borders will open for tourists from three countries – Germany, Norway and Iceland. Previously, they could not stay overnight in Copenhagen /DK), where the coronavirus infections have been concentrated. The tourist industry had been especially critical of the exception, partly because the capital is the single biggest draw for foreign visitors. Now tourists may stay there as well, provided they book a reservation for at least six days, as stipulated earlier. 

When asked whether the previous decision had been wrong, Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup replied, “When we made it, the circumstances were that we would proceed carefully and make sure that the infections don’t lead to an outbreak again. But we must also listen to the criticism that arises and the developments in the world around us.”

Bright lights, big cities

A restriction on Danes’ travel abroad was also lifted. Previously, people were urged to confine their summer travel to the three countries listed above and also to avoid cities with a population over 750,000. That category consists of five German cities, including Berlin and Munich. There are none of that size in the two other countries. Danes may now visit these cities (DK). The policy was changed to make it consistent with the foreign tourists’ opportunity to stay in Copenhagen. 

“I can understand that this creates uncertainty,” said Erik Brøgger Rasmussen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “But the coronavirus is uncertain, and everything changes from day to day.” 

Germany jumps the gun

According to reports from the border, German police had already stopped checking cars (DK) entering from Denmark on Friday, three days ahead of the planned date. Tourists crossing the border into Denmark from the three countries will be invited to take a test for the virus, but the test is not mandatory. 

The government is also working on a plan to allow Danes to travel to additional countries (DK) before the end of the summer. It intends to prepare a “model for travel advisories” that will not endanger Denmark’s progress in controlling the virus. Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs could not say whether specific countries or dates are being considered or when an announcement on the change can be expected.

North Sea beaches poised for friendly invasion

Tourists will flood into Denmark on Monday (DK), the day the border reopens. “It will be a fantastic, insane day,” said Hanne Thyssen, director of Danibo Summerhouse Rentals. Some 14,000 summerhouse reservations have been made for the first week, 91 percent of them in Jutland. Guests normally arrive gradually from Friday to Sunday for a week’s stay, but because of the delay in the border opening, Thyssen expects to see guests arriving at 400 summerhouses on the island of Fanø in southern Jutland on Monday. 

Many small businesses as well as the municipalities in southern Jutland are eagerly awaiting the return of German tourists, many of them regular visitors who have been forced to reschedule their stays. Although the sudden influx of tourists will put pressure on rental offices on Monday, it will be far below the normal level of 30,000 summerhouses that are occupied at the high season in mid-July. 

Coronavirus DK: Growing chorus: LIBERATE us from red tape

Some people are getting impatient with the government’s “gradual and controlled” reopening. That has led to a reversal of the so-called “midnight rule” (DK) for large parties at hotels and restaurants. According to the government’s plan for the relaxation of pandemic restrictions, restaurants and bars were allowed to open but must close by midnight. The rationale was that if people keep drinking into the night, they will be less careful about observing social distancing and good hygiene. The rule was extended for the sake of consistency to cover private gatherings held at these locations and other rented premises for wedding receptions and other large parties.

Cinderella versus the Nanny State

The right-wing opposition parties, along with the Social Liberal Party, thought this was going too far. They called the rule an expression of a “nanny mentality” and said that during the summer, the high season for such gatherings, the parties would just migrate at midnight to private homes and continue in the yard. This faction constituted a parliamentary majority and threatened to overturn the rule, but the Social Democratic government acceded to their wishes. Now parties can continue through the night as long as the gatherings involve people who know one another and others are not allowed in, they sit down, and they observe social distancing. 

When Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup was asked what this concession meant about how much the government has regulated things, he replied, “Although it resembles a small problem, it is a problem that has received much attention and therefore shall have this solution.”

European hordes clamoring at the gate

On Thursday, the EU Commission recommended that member states open their borders (DK) to other EU countries on June 15. Denmark’s plan is to keep its borders closed to all but a few countries until August 31. The EU cannot force individual countries to open their borders, but almost all the member states are planning to open their borders by June 15. The EU Commission also recommends that member states open the borders to countries outside the EU that have the pandemic under control as well as the EU countries. 

The European Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, happens to be Swedish, and Sweden has been pressing Denmark to allow its citizens access to Denmark. Sweden has a much higher infection rate than Denmark and its other neighbors, Norway and Finland. “There are perhaps 20,000 infectious Swedes,” says Christian Wejse, a specialist in infectious diseases at Aarhus University, “and with open borders they could quickly start new cases here.”

Bureaucratic jungle

On Friday, the left-leaning daily Information published an editorial calling the government’s reopening policy a “farce” (DK). The government has been preoccupied with small distinctions in detailed rules about hotel stays, high school graduation celebrations, reunifications with partners abroad, and arbitrary closing times for restaurants. Freedoms that people had taken for granted have been passed out in small bit after political negotiations, and it has created a bureaucratic jungle of arbitrary, special laws. People have difficulty understanding them and will stop following them instead of focusing on the crucial factors of social distancing and washing their hands.