Coronavirus DK: Disappearing jobs, equipment and ice

Statistics Denmark reports that 87,000 jobs disappeared (DK) in the spring. “That is an insane number,” says Las Olsen, Chief Economist at Danske Bank. “We’ve never seen anything like it before.” It reverses all the employment growth since late 2017. The worst hit sectors are commerce and transport, which together accounted for half of the decline. Next come culture, leisure and other services, which experienced the largest percentage drop. The figures are rather uncertain, however, and actually higher, says Olsen, because people who are receiving wage compensation are not included.

Selective rebound expected
The decline is not as large as when 200,000 lost their jobs during the financial crisis, but it has taken place much more quickly. On the other hand, the recovery should also come faster as businesses and other organizations reopen. Certain industries, such as hospitality and entertainment, will not recover for a couple of years, however, and some people will need to shift to other fields in order to find work, concludes Olsen.

Disappearing PPE
Something else has vanished in large volumes since March – personal protective equipment. The police have registered 29 cases of sanitizer, face masks and gloves being stolen (DK) from hospitals, nursing homes and shops since March, and they treat them very seriously: “We did it especially in the start, because at that point we were in an acute situation where it was possible Denmark would run out of protective equipment,” said Søren Enevoldsen, deputy inspector with the National Investigatory Center. These crimes have received special attention because in April Parliament passed a bill that made the punishment for offenses related to the coronavirus epidemic four times as high as usual.

Mobile supply cabinets are a target for PPE thieves. Photo: (C) DR Nyheder.

This meant that someone who steals, say, DKK 10,000 ($1,500) worth of supplies from a hospital could get the same sentence as someone charged with assault with a knife. The reasoning is that both actions could put someone’s life in danger. At one point, one quarter of nursing home employees were reporting a shortage of PPE. A man who committed theft from a hospital, for example, was sentenced to four months in prison. Few offenders have been sentenced, though, because many of the arrests took place before the increased penalty went into effect. 

Glaciers disappearing, but Greenland will remain
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to Copenhagen on Wednesday and assured the nation that the US is ready to fight in the Arctic for the people of Denmark. “We have all been a little bit naïve to watch not only the Russians but also the Chinese interests there become more and more aggressive.” As the glaciers in the Arctic melt, more opportunities for military patrolling as well as trade open up. One month ago, the US opened a new consulate in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, and made a commitment to invest in the strategically important region.

Pompeo affirmed that Denmark continues to be one of America’s closest allies: “We are two nations that are both robust democracies.” On that topic, he didn't mention his boss’s refusal to say that he would abide by the presidential election results in November. On the positive side, neither did he repeat Trump’s attempt to buy the autonomous territory.

Coronavirus DK: Evaluating the lockdown, testing and PPE

Danish researchers are calling attention to a recent study showing the importance of strict lockdown (DK) measures in preventing coronavirus infections and saving lives. That might seem obvious, but this is the first time that researchers have put specific figures on the effects of the policy. They estimate that lockdowns from April to June saved 285 million people in China from being infected, 49 million in Italy, and 60 million in the USA.

“I don’t think that any human intervention has ever saved so many lives in such a short time,” said the leader of the study, Solimon Hsiang, Professor at the Geopolitics department at University of California. The study, which compares the lockdown periods with the trend in infections in individual countries, indicates that the countries that maintained lockdown conditions until the infection rate declined to a low level succeeded in controlling the virus.

Vindication for Mette

The study provides a justification for the Danish policy of maintaining a relatively strict policy even while the infection numbers were declining steadily. A comparison of a few charts shows that countries such as Denmark and Germany, which waited until the infection rate was low before relaxing restrictions, have flattened the curve, while others that did not introduce restrictions or that lifted them quickly, such as Sweden and the United States, have not yet stopped the spread of the virus.

Attracting test subjects

The government recently decided to suspend testing a representative sample (DK) of the population, and the decision drew criticism from researchers and one of the government’s supporting parties. The testing program began in April, when the government started reopening the economy. The number of people who responded to the invitation to be tested fell steadily in step with the decline in infections, and the sample became so small that researchers decided the program was not worthwhile. Of the most recent group invited to testing, only 12.9 percent reported to the country’s Test Centers.

“It is the cornerstone of the entire testing strategy,” says Peder Hvelplund of the Red-Green Party, “and it is an especially unfortunate time to stop the representative monitoring of the spread of infections.” Jens Lundgren, Professor at Rigshospitalet, agrees: “In the beginning of the epidemic, the problem was that we didn’t discover the spread until it was too late. So it’s a bad idea to relax the practice because the situation is peaceful now.”

The government has now responded that it will resume representative testing (DK) with a modification of the approach. Beginning in August, it will test the same control group as before for both coronavirus and antibodies. “We will thus inconvenience fewer people and kill two birds with one stone,” says Rasmus Horn Langhoff, healthcare spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party. Horn Langhoff believes that more people will respond to the invitation again because it includes an antibody test. “Perhaps we should use mobile units that drive out to people,” says Peder Hvelplund, who criticized the suspension of testing project, “or GPs can be part of the solution.”

Who decided whom to protect first

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Health Minister Magnus Heunicke have come under criticism (DK) for a decision in early March to give priority for protective equipment to the Danish Regions over the municipalities. The Regions administer the public hospitals, and the municipalities administer the nursing homes. The equipment was intended for both the staffs and patients of the institutions.

Jane Heitmann, spokesperson for the elderly of the Liberal Party, says that it was very irresponsible to overlook the most vulnerable segment of the population in the nursing homes. Heitmann wants to know whether it was Heunicke himself who made the decision or officials lower down in the Ministry: “There may be good reasons for the decision. But I think that the elderly and the staffs out in the nursing homes need to know who made the decision and why.”

Coronavirus DK: Gearing up for the long haul

In a question session yesterday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that it was unwise and untenable that Denmark did not have a secure source of personal protection equipment (PPE) (DK) and testing equipment for an epidemic. Until a few years ago, Statens Serum Institut, the agency responsible for preparing for infectious diseases, had a unit that produced vaccine. It was sold to a Saudi Arabian firm for DKK 15 million ($2.2 million). When asked whether that was not a mistake, Frederiksen answered simply that Denmark should not be in such a vulnerable position regarding supplies again. It was not clear that it was economical for the Danish state to produce all the necessary equipment, she said. She favored shared production with other, like-minded European countries, and she would raise the subject at a meeting of EU this week.

Beware cheap PPE

The Danish Safety Technology Authority issued a warning about sales of protective equipment (DK) that does not satisfy security standards and named specific companies. The firm Hifling Labels, for example, was ordered to stop the sale of “corona masks” to nursing homes in Copenhagen. It must also inform customers that purchased the masks that there was no documentation that masks complied with the relevant standards or provided any protection against the Covid-19 virus. The agency is investigating 11 other companies that sell equipment. The demand for masks and other PPE has increased now that small businesses such as dentists and hairdressers have reopened. Sisse Marie Welling, Deputy Mayor for Health, said it was reprehensible that private companies try to earn money by putting vulnerable elderly persons at risk. In any case, individual nursing homes are not supposed to purchase equipment themselves. Such equipment is purchased centrally by the municipality, which ensures that it fulfills the security requirements.

Substitutes for hugging 

The prime minister was also asked how long people will have to practice social distancing. She responded that the authorities don’t know yet, but she didn’t think that anyone could stand not being able to hug their grandfather in a year, for example. This prompted a journalist to ask a brain researcher what people can do if they have withdrawal symptoms from lack of hugging (DK). Professor Troels Kjær of Zealand University Hospital and the University of Copenhagen, explained about the benefits of oxytocin, the famous “hugging hormone,” and gave a few suggestions. 1) Take a warm shower. It activates the sensors in the skin for touch and heat, widens the blood vessels, and triggers a release of oxytocin. 2) Lie under a heavy comforter or wear tight clothing. The steady pressure on the skin also releases oxytocin. 3) Lay a vibrating phone against your body. It stimulates cells sensitive to touch in a way similar to a shower. 4) Self-massage. Sex of course releases large dose of oxytocin. But if that or a massage from a quarantine partner isn’t an option, you can always give yourself what Kjær calls a “self-hug.” But none of these substitutes can beat a good hug, he concludes, because of all the positive feelings and associations you get from your relation to other person.

Still aiming for more testing

Yesterday, the Danish Regions offered some more information about those tents that were set up in Fælledparken (DK) in Copenhagen. They are called TestCenter Danmark, and they are intended to enable authorities to test more people than before for both coronavirus infection and antibodies. The objective is test everyone with mild symptoms, everyone who is hospitalized, and personnel in healthcare facilities and nursing homes. Testing will take place on two tracks. The healthcare system will manage one of them, and the Test Center will manage the “society track.” The TestCenter will allow testing of an additional 20,000 per day. Thus far fewer than 6,000 people have been tested in a single day. 

Coronavirus DK: Taking precautions as business resumes

Today the next phase of the lockdown exit process begins. Professional services and small service businesses can reopen. In many of them, such as hairdressers and physical therapists, it is impossible to avoid physical contact. Yesterday the Minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs held a press conference to present the guidelines it has set forth, along with the Health Authority, for minimizing the risk of infection (DK). These are the main principles: 1) Customers must be able to maintain two meters’ distance from one another in the lobby or waiting room. 2) Businesses must post guidelines on good hygiene and a warning that people with Covid-19 symptoms must remain home and they must make hand sanitizer readily available. 3) Employees should be scheduled in such a way that they do not work close to one another, by following staggered schedules or extending business hours. 4) Employees must observe strict rules of hygiene, washing their hands after contact with each customer, sanitizing points of contact on the premises, such as doorknobs, and washing fabrics at 80 degrees Celsius. 5) Employees should avoid sustained face-to-face contact with customers, for example by holding a preliminary conversation at two meters’ distance or by wearing a mask or visor.

Faulty protective equipment

One of the big issues for healthcare staff around the world is getting access to adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). While there is a great demand for products, prices are rising. But at the same time the quality of the PPE is unreliable (DK). The Danish Safety Technology Authority tests the products and has found that many of them must be discarded. For example, of the 20 million masks acquired, 5 million had to be thrown out. Some of the masks and visors fall apart, some do not cover the face correctly, and some don’t have the proper certification or otherwise do not protect against infection. According to Birgitte Nellemann, Purchasing Manager at the Mid-Jutland Region, one problem may be that the manufacturers in China have speeded up production and have not conducted thorough quality assurance.

Anders Kühnau, Chairperson of Mid-Jutland Region, says that Denmark may have higher standards than some other countries, which might want to use the discarded equipment. When asked whether he cold guarantee that the Region would get a refund for the defective equipment, he said, “It is difficult to guarantee anything at all.” The private company Force Technology works with the Safety Technology Authority to test the equipment. It reports that some of the masks do not screen out enough particles and some make it difficult to breathe. The equipment has sometimes been made by firms that have not produced PPE before. 

The Region has begun to ask for a sample of the products before an entire order arrives. Sometimes it finds that if a product is not acceptable at the desired level, it can be used for other purposes. For example, FFP3 masks are supposed to screen out 99 percent of particles, and FFP2 (aka KN95) are supposed to screen out 94 percent. If a shipment of FFP3 masks is not fully effective, it may be possible to use the masks for functions that normally require only FF2 masks.

Doctors are also open for business

People are making appointments with their GPs again (DK) after the prime minister and the head of the Danish Health Authority encouraged them to do so. Doctors had seen a sharp drop in appointments since the lockdown began. Some people with mild illnesses or chronic illnesses had been staying away either because they thought that the doctors were especially busy with Covid-19 patients or they wanted to avoid the risk of infection at doctors’ offices. Doctors’ offices must still follow strict rules for visiting patients, for example patients are screened by telephone and fewer of them can sit in a waiting room. Doctors expect that there may be an increase in the number of patients with Covid-19 symptoms now that segments of the economy are reopening.