Coronavirus DK: Sunny Beachhead for the virus

Even though the coronavirus is well under control in Denmark (as I have written at the start of several posts), there’s always something to be worried about. This week it’s the 150 or so young Danes who have taken to beach resorts in Bulgaria (DK) to party their brains out and who risk bringing the stealthy pathogens back to Denmark. Recently, advertisements by a travel agency for wild dance floors in discotheques at a favorite destination drew the ire of politicians and healthcare researchers for being irresponsible in the coronavirus era. 

“Tired of everything you can’t do in Denmark?” read the ad from DUF travel agency (DK). “At Sunny Beach you can: Party with more than 2,000 other young people. Be at a club all night. Pool party. Boat party.” 

The concerns of the grownups turned out to be justified. The ads were withdrawn, but they had infected their targets. “There are a lot of rules at home now that they don’t have here in the same way,” said one partygoer, Lasse Birch Cassen, “so down here we can really let go like we can’t at home.”

Melting pot of infection

According to the government’s current advisory, travel to Bulgaria, an EU member state, is still permitted. But the country, like the US and some others, is setting records for new infections this week. So the Foreign Ministry is warning travelers to be “extra careful.” Virologist Allan Randrup Thomsen sees a clear parallel to the situation at the ski resorts in Ischgl, Austria, that set off the pandemic in Europe in February: “What we are afraid of is that there is a single superspreader at one of these beach parties and 20-30-40-50 can quickly become infected.”

At places like that, visitors from many countries can create a “melting pot of infection,” says Søren Riis Paludan, another virologist. “The problem is that young people may not show symptoms. . . go under the radar and infect others.” Riis Paludan compares the situation to the one in Florida, where young people were responsible for much of the spread of the infection.

Driven outdoors

After the criticism, the agency changed its tune, “directly recommending that our guests not go to nightclubs” and suggesting instead “the large open-air beach bars,” said managing director Anders Marcuslund.” According to the Bulgarian coronavirus rules, people are to maintain a social distance of 1.5 meters, and if that is not possible, to wear a face mask, which none of the people on the dance floors in the photos seem to be doing.

The Foreign Ministry is following the situation carefully, and officials urge returning travelers to be tested and to isolate themselves until they get a negative test.

Not our fault

On Thursday, the Bulgarian government decided to ban indoor nightclubs (DK) and allow outdoor beach bars to operate at only 50 percent capacity. While some young Danes were annoyed at the restrictions, others didn’t think it would make any difference for them. DUF’s Marcuslund fully endorses the move: “We were of course one step ahead of the Bulgarian authorities.”

When reminded that the guests are still getting drunk, dancing close together, hugging one another and sharing drinks – those “buckets” with several straws in them – Marcuslund maintains that the agency advises people to follow the guidelines but that they are also a “personal responsibility,” concluding, “I don’t think it’s much worse than what you see at home.”