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: Fighting about unlocking the lockdown

Yesterday I wrote about efforts by the police to enforce social distancing among individual citizens. The government is also trying to keep additional businesses and other organizations from reopening too soon against the wishes of a parliamentary majority.

Some of the smaller municipalities (DK) in the country that have not had many Covid-19 cases want to reopen before the others. As of Sunday, seventeen municipalities had not registered any new infections in at least a week. Henrik Frandsen, the mayor of Tønder, in southern Jutland, proposes opening restaurants as long as they keep patrons at a safe distance from one another. He also wants to open the border to Germany for tourists who can document summerhouse rentals. Other municipalities in the area that are suffering from a loss of tourism agree. Sofie Valbjørn, the mayor of Fanø, argues that its conditions are much different from those in Copenhagen. It is sparsely populated and there is much space and nature reserves where people can move around freely. She proposes opening middle schools and restaurants.

Support for local decisions

While the political parties each have their own positions about what parts of society and the economy should be opened next, a clear majority favors allowing a differentiated reopening (DK), assuming the sound health conditions are observed. The Danish People’s Party would open nursing homes for visits from relatives as well as adult education and nature parks where visitors stay in their cars. “Why wait until the last place in a city is ready to reopen?” asks chairman Kristian Thulesen Dahl. The Socialist People’s Party wants to open middle schools as well as permitting visits to nursing homes. It favors opening localities with a low rate of infection and not localities where people are violating social distance recommendations because otherwise the former will not feel that they are not benefiting from complying with the guidelines.

Most of the right-wing parties adduce economic reasons for a differentiated relaxation of the lockdown. The Liberal Party favors opening restaurants and cafes before public institutions because it will benefit business, which is the foundation of the welfare state. The New Right wants to open the borders to Germany and Norway in order to allow the tourist industry to operate again, bringing income and jobs to the peripheral regions of the country. The Liberal Alliance Party would allow a reopening of the remainder of the educational system as well as restaurants.

Viruses don’t observe borders

The Red-Green Party is the only one besides the Social Democratic administration that is against a differentiated opening. It argues that traffic across the regions will increase, raising the chances of reigniting an outbreak. The Social Liberal Party has not taken a clear position. It defers to the healthcare authorities.

Some experts warn against a differentiated reopening. For example, Hans Jørgen Kolmos, Professor at Southern Denmark University, says that people will travel to regions that opened before others, some will bring the virus with them, and it will be impossible to limit or monitor the spread. Social distancing has worked, and it must be coordinated. Astrid Krag, the Minister for Social Affairs and the Interior, says that the issue is part of the general negotiations on the gradual relaxation of lockdown restrictions.

Deal or no deal?

One place that did reopen yesterday was IKEA (DK). There were lines of customers waiting to come into its five outlets across the country. Simon Kollerup, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, was not pleased. He says that the retailer has broken an agreement with the administration and will consider taking action. IKEA responded that it was not violating any political agreement, it had announced that it would reopen ten days before, and it had not heard any objections from the administration. The Ministry of Industry countered that during the weekend Kollerup made a clear statement that no additional businesses should reopen until Parliament had decided on an overall plan for the next phase of the lockdown exit process. Mads Satsman-Nørhede, the manager of IKEA’s Taastup store, said that they had adhered to the governments’s general recommendations but if they got an order to close, they would of course comply with it.