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: 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.

Coronavirus DK: Clash over plan for border opening

At a press conference yesterday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced the government’s policy on opening the border (DK). Like the earlier steps in the reopening of society and the economy, it takes a gradual, controlled approach and it also drew criticism. 

Beginning on June 15, tourists from Germany, Norway and Iceland may enter Denmark, but they must be able to document that they have booked a stay for at least six nights outside of Copenhagen. They may make day trips to Copenhagen, which has had by far the most infections in Denmark, but must sleep elsewhere. Germany has had an infection rate similar to Denmark's, and the rate in the two other countries has been lower.

Tourists from other countries, including Sweden, are excluded. Officials in Sweden, which has not had a strict lockdown and has a much larger number of infections, have complained about lack of access to Denmark. Many Swedes work in Denmark, and many Danes have summer houses in southern Sweden. After the summer, the government expects to open the border to Schengen countries and the UK, said Frederiksen. She added that it may try to find a regional solution to the issue of Sweden.

No Mediterranean beaches for Danes

Tourists will be asked to be tested for the coronavirus when they cross the border, but it will not be compulsory. If they have visible symptoms, they will be refused entry. There will be test centers at popular vacation spots, and if tourists test positive, they may stay in the country subject to the Health Authority’s general guidelines on isolation. 

For people traveling abroad from Denmark, the same restrictions apply. On June 15, they may travel to the same three countries, where they are urged to avoid large cities. The government advises against travel to other countries until August 31. That includes countries in southern Europe where many Danes spend their summer vacations. Frederiksen expressed regrets (DK) that people cannot travel to warm beaches and urged them to vacation in Denmark this year and help support hotels, restaurants and other local tourist sites that are suffering economically because of a lack of customers. If people travel to other countries, they may be subject to restrictions there or become stranded. In any case, they are urged to quarantine themselves for 14 days when they return.

SSI, the agency for preparedness against infectious diseases, believes that the border opening will lead to an increase in the number of infections (DK). It estimates that 400-1,500 asymptomatic persons with the coronavirus will enter the country. Independent healthcare researchers were divided (DK) about the plan. Some think it is sensible, and others believe that tourists from additional countries should be allowed entrance.

Strange, incomprehensible, shocking

Not surprisingly, the plan drew criticism from the opposition (DK), which has been agitating for an earlier border opening. Jacob Ellemann-Jensen of the Liberal Party calls the restrictions in the plan strange and arbitrary: “Why is it six days? And what is so dangerous about sleeping in Copenhagen? It is hard to see the rationale in the necessity of hurting hotels in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. I hope there is a justification on the basis of healthcare considerations.” 

Criticism also came from Frederiksen’s fellow Social Democrats. “Sad and incomprehensible,” said Jonas Bjørn Jensen, spokesperson for the party in Copenhagen. “It is Copenhagen that generates the most money for tourism, so if you want to benefit the industry, you should start there.” 

Representatives of the tourism industry of course agreed. “I am shocked,” said Peter Haaber, head of the Zleep Hotels chain. “It is almost a compulsory lockdown.” The head of VisitDenmark, Jan Olsen, however, acknowledged the loss of income to hotels in Copenhagen but noted that only about 10 percent of tourists from the three countries in question stay in the city. Most stay along the coasts, and they have already begun to book rooms.

Coronavirus DK: Milestone: Holding death at bay

Yesterday was the first day in two months when there were zero deaths from covid-19 (DK) registered. The disease statistics have been falling since around April 1. The number of patients hospitalized declined by ten in the past 24 hours, and the new cases of infection have been below 100 for the past five days. Here are the latest totals:

• Hospitalized: 137
• ICU patients: 32
• On respirators: 26
• Deaths: 537 (93 per million)
• Infected: 10,791
• Recovered:8,959
• Tested: 368,889 persons (400,000+ total)

The results indicate that Denmark’s strategy of beginning the relaxation of restrictions with young children (DK) was effective, says Virologist Allan Randrup Thomsen, Professor of Virology. The staff at schools and day-care centers succeeded in dividing children into groups and maintaining a distance between them. Thomsen cautions, however, that the number of fatalities is not the most important parameter because they can come after a long period of hospitalization. The number of new hospitalizations is more important, and that has also fallen steadily.

Intra-Nordic discrimination?

It’s a little curious that this announcement comes on the same day as a hypothetical complaint from Sweden (DK) about Denmark’s possibly opening its border with Germany but not the border with its closest Scandinavian neighbor. In the political debate on Thursday, some party leaders proposed opening the Danish borders to German and Norwegian tourists. This led Sweden’s Minister for Nordic Collaboration, Anna Halberg, to declare that such a move would be “unfair discrimination.” Halberg argues that one should not compare the spread of the infection in Copenhagen and Stockholm, where it is highest in Sweden, but rather the spread in Greater Copenhagen and the neighboring Skåne region in Sweden, where the spread is less extensive. 

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen of the Danish Liberal Party had said that Denmark should “not wait to open the border with Germany until it is defensible from a healthcare perspective to open the border with Sweden.” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterated that the government will wait until June 1 to open any of the borders. Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by covid-19, has just announced that it will allow foreign travel next month (DK).

The long, hard trek to herd immunity

Sweden has been following a more open policy on the pandemic than Denmark and the rest of the world. It has not ordered a strict lockdown and has not closed restaurants but has rather relied on the population to practice social distancing voluntarily. Its disease statistics are much higher than those in the rest of Scandinavia. There has been some uncertainty about whether its official policy is to pursue “herd immunity,” but in any case, the earlier admirers of its controversial laissez-faire approach from other countries have begun to change their minds about its advisability. It has registered 3,646 deaths (363 per million), almost four times as many per million as in Denmark and Germany and eight times as many as in Norway.

Not everyone agrees that such caution is necessary, however. Søren Riis Paludan, Professor of Virology and Immunology at Aarhus University, says it doesn’t matter whether tourists to Jutland come from Germany or Copenhagen, which also has a higher infection rate than Jutland. He does not even think that the wider spread of the disease in Sweden is significant. While the number of deaths in Denmark fell to zero yesterday, there were 117 new deaths and 625 new infections in Sweden.

Coronavirus DK: Ten politicians miss hugging

Yesterday evening, the leaders of all ten parliamentary parties gathered for their first formal, televised debate (DK) since the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic. After reaching agreements on the earlier steps in managing the crisis and reopening the Denmark’s economy, the opposition parties were eager to stake out their own distinctive positions. Jakob Ellemann-Jensen of the Liberal Party declared that his party would not support any package on economic recovery unless it froze taxes. He characterized the position as an “ultimate demand,” or ultimatum, which in Danish politics is considered an aggressive and provocative maneuver. The Social Democratic government does not necessarily need the Liberals’ votes to pass a bill, but Danish administrations usually try to gather a consensus for the fiscal budget and emergency measures. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen agreed that higher taxes and duties would not help the private sector suffering during the crisis.

Tax break, opening the border

Before the debate Ellemann-Jensen had proposed reducing VAT by 50 percent (DK) in the second half of 2020 as a way of creating jobs. The move would lower prices for consumers and help businesses recover. VAT in Denmark is 25 percent, and the reduction would put the VAT rate below the EU’s minimum level. Ellemann-Jensen raised this issue in the debate, but got no immediate support from the other right-wing parties. Morten Østergaard of the Social Liberals supported a tax break for businesses but wanted the initiative to take the form of a permanent “green conversion” (DK) that advanced sustainable energy rather than a temporary rescue measure. 

Østergaard also pressed Frederiksen on opening the border (DK) at least for German summer tourists in order to boost the rural economies that depend on summer tourism. Germany is opening its borders today and has invited Denmark to join it. Frederiksen said that the government was willing to consider the possibility but warned of the consequences if a German family proved to be spreading the virus and reiterated the government’s intention to wait until June 1 to present a plan for the borders.

Frederiksen in charge

Altogether, there was little new in the debate and not much disagreement. It concluded with the party leaders saying almost unanimously and sometimes emotionally that they looked forward, after the crisis has passed, to being able to give their parents and others a proper hug again (DK). The most noteworthy pronouncements perhaps came before the debate began, when Frederiksen was on her way into the National Gallery, where it was held. Earlier in the day, Frederiksen had sent an email to the party leaders with a new, more optimistic report from SSI, the agency responsible for preparedness against infectious diseases, and an invitation to negotiations on accelerating the reopening. On the way to the debate, she announced that she thought the reopening should proceed more quickly. She thus seemed to take credit for something that many of them had argued for and left them with few options in their response. 

The sharpest exchange (DK) of the evening also occurred during Frederiksen’s preliminary colloquy with journalists. When asked whether it was wise to frighten people in the beginning of the crisis by referring to images of Italian trucks carrying corpses, she replied by asking the reporter, Henrik Qvotrup of the tabloid Ekstra Bladet, whether he was certain that things wouldn’t have gone wrong if Denmark hadn’t locked down earlier than other countries. “But you’re the prime minister and I’m the journalist,” Qvotrup answered. “That’s maybe a very good thing for the Danish people, if I may say so,” replied Frederiksen. One commentator remarked that the irritated response indicated that the issue of whether Frederiksen has overdramatized the dangers of the epidemic must be a sore point for her. 

Coronavirus DK: Border skirmish - the next front

Yesterday, the EU Commission presented a tourism package (DK) that is intended to rescue the summer tourist season in Europe. Germany had just announced that it will open its borders tomorrow, and Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition and Danish Social Liberal politician, urged other member states to follow suit. The Danish government has said that it will not consider reopening the borders until after June 1. When asked whether that was too late, Vestager responded, “Both service and production businesses need to move across borders to a greater extent,” adding that all the necessary precautions must be taken.

The package is set of recommendations and guidelines for the member states. For example, people should not travel if they are sick; passengers should check in online and avoid lines at the airport; airlines should not serve food on board; they should take fewer passengers; unrelated passengers should not sit close together; hotels and camping grounds should follow strict hygiene policies. In the first phase, the EU recommends that countries with similar levels of infection (DK) open their borders to each other, for example Denmark and Greece, where the epidemic is under control. The entire Schengen region should not open until later.

Digital travel solutions

The Commission will also develop an interactive map that shows the status of the epidemic in various regions and will present guidelines that will allow the “corona apps” from each country to function in the other member states. The EU has no authority to determine the policies of member states, however. Tourism represents 10 percent of the EU’s economy, and 27 million jobs, directly or indirectly, depend on it, mostly in southern Europe. It represents 8 percent of the Danish economy.

The pandemic has of course been a disaster for countries with a large tourism industry (DK). The Cannes Film Festival should be taking place at the moment, for example, but the many hotels in the region are empty. Italy only last week relaxed restrictions for its own citizens, who must present documentation if they want to travel between regions. Spain, which is also heavily dependent on tourism, is still in the early stages of reopening. Airlines, whose business has plummeted during the crisis, have canceled many flights and passengers are demanding refunds. The airlines have asked for permission to issue credits toward future flights instead, but the Commission has rejected the request.

Pressure from the right

A majority of the Danish parliamentary parties is reportedly in favor of at least a partial opening (DK), for example for German and Norwegian tourists or for people who rent summer houses. At Parliament’s latest question session, representatives of three right-wing opposition parties pressed the government (DK) to follow Germany’s initiative. Danish Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup, however, maintained that Denmark is not ready to put the positive developments in controlling the coronavirus at risk, noting that the epidemic entered the country with skiers returning from Austria and Italy in February. It costs Denmark DKK 107 million ($15 million) for every day that the borders are closed, said Ulla Tørnæs from the Liberal Party. 

Hækkerup answered that the losses could be even greater if the borders are opened too soon and the epidemic flares up again. He was open to the possibility of allowing foreigners who already have a rental contract to enter the country, but the session was frustrating for parties on both sides of the debate. “I must confess that I have not become much wiser from this answer,” said Tørnæs after another testy exchange. Not all parties are in favor of an immediate relaxation of border restrictions. The Red-Green Party, for example, warns that the country shouldn’t drop its precautions simply because of the positive trend in limiting infections.