Coronavirus DK: Critique of the state as savior

In an opinion piece in the daily Information, former Minister for Technology and Research Tommy Ahlers from the Liberal Party, warns against seeing the containment of the coronavirus as the triumph of the welfare state. Ahlers, who was appointed to the preceding center-right cabinet from the private sector, wants to offer a “conservative answer” (DK) to the prevailing narrative of the coronavirus crisis. In that scenario, a strong, centralized state was necessary to stop the spread of the infection and to support the economy. It fit perfectly with the social democratic worldview, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen succeeded in portraying the dangers of the situation that required sweeping protections and precautions.

Ahlers acknowledges that such actions were necessary during the outbreak, but criticizes the treatment of the private sector during the reopening phase, which he describes as “absurd theater.” He argues that the precautionary principle was applied too indiscriminately and without adequate consideration of and consultation with the private sector. He gives the example of hotels’ being allowed to open everywhere but in Copenhagen - visitors could simply stay in the suburbs and visit the city during the day. The policy discouraged tourism more than it prevented the spread of the infection.

Who pays for the hospitals and healthcare anyway?
During the current economic recovery from the crisis, Ahlers does not want businesses to be perceived as recipients of support from the state that now must pay their share. They needed temporary support because they cooperated with the government’s lockdown. He repeats the right wing’s general contention that the welfare state depends on the tax revenues generated by the private sector and asserts the need for a balance between the public and private spheres. He argues that a strong market will be crucial in bringing the country back into sound economic growth. It is essential in creating jobs as well as the new technology that is necessary for achieving the government’s ambitions, for example the reduction of carbon emissions.

Smittestop poster: "Take it easy - your privacy is safe." Photo: Smittestop.

Surveillance for you and not for me
A fresh example of the state’s perhaps overstepping its emergency mandate appeared in another Information article. As noted earlier, the Smitttestop contact-tracing app has been downloaded many hundred thousand times, and researchers were satisfied that it played a useful role in limiting the spread of the coronavirus. Now it turns out that employees of the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs have been forbidden to use the app (DK) on their work phones and tablets because of concerns about data security. Minister of Health Magnus Heunicke has several times assured people that the app was secure and protected users’ privacy.

The problem is with bluetooth. For the app to function and notify users that someone with COVID-19 is in proximity, users must have the bluetooth turned on, and that is what the Foreign Ministry objects to. “Bluetooth is an open channel, and it is relatively easy to penetrate for someone who wants to follow what’s happening,” says Erik Brøgger Rasmussen of the Foreign Ministry. Jesper Lund, chair of the IT Political Association of Denmark, finds the double standard “a little hypocritical.” Heunicke is on vacation and the paper was not able to obtain a response from him.

Coronavirus DK: Denmark finally recommends masks

The Danish Health Authority is now recommending the use of face masks (DK) for the first time, but only in selected situations. The agency updated its guidelines on Thursday with this announcement: “People can use face masks for short periods in special situations in order to protect others from the coronavirus.” It is thus not recommending that everyone wear masks, that people wear them in all situations, or that people wear them in order to protect themselves. The announcement cites the change in the WHO’s guidelines last month to recommend the use of masks in certain situations on the basis of new knowledge about the spread of the infection.

The Authority advises that masks be used in situations where you cannot follow the general recommendations, on social distancing for example. They are most important for people who are infected, who have symptoms, or who have been exposed to someone who might be infected.

Photo: Coronavirus.dk.

These are the situations:

• You are infected or have symptoms and must leave isolation in order to travel to or from a hospital.
• You are returning home from traveling to a high-risk country and must undergo self-isolation.
• You are in close contact with someone who is infected and must break self-isolation in order to transport you to a test.
• You are related to a person with elevated risk and cannot maintain physical distance, for example because you must care for the person.

The Authority stresses that it is crucial to wear masks correctly, to follow good hand hygiene when putting them on, to change them after every use, and to have a good supply if you need to wear them.

“Masks must be seen as an extra tool in the workbox,” the announcement concludes. “There are other, more effective tools, for example self-isolation if you are sick, keeping 1 meter’s distance, and adhering to good hygiene.” The Authority has produced a folder and a poster (DK) on the correct use of masks.

Tracing app is spreading

On June 18, the Ministry of Health released the Smittestop app, which is intended to monitor the spread of coronavirus and warn people who come into proximity of it. It has now been downloaded 745,000 times (DK), and people have registered their infection 112 times. The Ministry did not disclose the number of notifications.

According to researchers, the number of downloads is satisfactory and the number of infections registered is not so low considering Denmark’s low reproduction rate, but they hope to see more downloads. They are preparing models based on the spread of the virus that the government can use to determine what to keep open and closed in society and the economy. “If there is a new outbreak, we can make fewer interventions if the app is in widespread use,” says Jacob Stoustrup, Professor at the Institute for Electronic Systems at Aalborg University. 

As described in an earlier post, when you are in close proximity for 15 minutes with someone who is registered as positive for the virus, the app sends you a notification. The notification does not include the name of the infected person, and the data are encrypted, anonymous and stored only on individual phones. Researchers would prefer having more data available but acknowledge the need for privacy.

Not everyone can download the app. It requires a phone with Android 6.0 or iOS 13.5. 

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.