Coronavirus DK: The hazards of hand sanitizer

Since the lockdown was announced on March 11, the number of calls to the central “Poison Hotline” (DK) about hand sanitizer have been five times as high as usual. Most of them concern people who have gotten the alcohol-based liquid splashed in their eyes, and the rest are cases where someone has drunk it. About half of the latter involve children under the age of five. So far, there haven’t been any cases of serious poisoning of children, though, because the taste is bad enough to make them stop drinking it. “But there are some who deliberately consume large amounts, but those are adults with other problems,” says Paul Frost, head doctor at Bispebjerg Hospital who works on the Poison Hotline.

No good deed goes unpunished

The dangers of mistakenly drinking hand sanitizer have had unfortunate consequences for a business that tried to help out during the crisis. When the lockdown took effect, the Wish juice producer from the island of Lolland decided to repurpose its equipment to make sanitizer. Now the Danish Environmental Protection Agency has ordered that the company’s sanitizer be recalled (DK) because it can be mistaken for something consumable. The company stands to lose DKK 2 million USD 300,000) from the recall.

Wish juice and sanitizer (håndsprit). Photo: TV2 News.

“Other companies were able to make a different package with clear labeling and child-protection features,” says Kim Holm Boesen of the EPA. The owners of the company, Allan and Mette Feldt, say that no one has drunk the sanitizer because they thought it was juice. They explain that they would have used different packaging if it hadn’t been a crisis situation but they believe the packaging was adequate. The EPA concedes that no one has been injured from drinking the sanitizer but explains that it has received several referrals from consumers who are worried about the packaging.

Appeal to the court of social media

“It is heartrending, and we feel that we are being punished for being socially conscientious and ready to adjust to the situation,” says Mette Feldt. The Feldts do not intend to comply with the EPA’s order to issue a recall letter to the retail businesses that have bought the sanitizer. Allan Feldt hopes “that the government will say that it’s unfair that we and others who have adjusted our production should be stuck with the bill afterwards.”

The Feldts have shared their frustration with the order on Facebook and have received support from several right-wing politicians (DK) who argue that the Minister of the Environment should give the company dispensation from the packaging rules because of the emergency situation. The couple has reputedly made a fortune from selling Aqua d’Or mineral water.

Worthless or worse

The heavy demand for sanitizer during the epidemic has led to an increase in imports as well as production by beverage companies. The EPA, working with Customs, has inspected 520 tons of hand sanitizer at the border (DK) and rejected 19 tons, some of it because of insufficient labeling and some because it contained no alcohol. Around half of the faulty imports were sent back to their country of origin and half of them were destroyed because they were considered dangerous.

Antiracism DK: Are popsicles complicit in colonialism?

The Washington Redskins. Aunt Jemima. Uncle Ben. Eskimo Pie. And now the Edmonton Eskimos. They’ve all gone to the graveyard of racist brand names. As in the US in the wake of the George Floyd killing and demonstrations, the racism debate can sometimes overshadow the coronavirus pandemic. It was only a matter of time before the nomenclature police would go after Denmark’s ice cream popsicles Eskimo-is (Eskimo ice cream) and Kæmpe Eskimo (Giant Eskimo). The first has capitulated, but the second is still resisting.

Photo: Andreas Hagemann Bro, Scanpix Denmark.

Last week ice cream producer Hansens announced that it was changing the name Eskimo-is (DK) to O’Payo, which is the type of chocolate used in the popsicle. It was with “a certain amount of sadness” that Hansens decided to drop the name of its classic snack, which dated from an “older and more unenlightened time,” the company wrote in a press release. In Denmark, the word is used mainly in reference to Greenlanders, and it is described in the Danish dictionary as “possibly offensive.” Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

Greenlanders are Inuit

Since the founding of the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1977, Greenland’s inhabitants have preferred the term Inuit. They object to “Eskimo,” which was applied to them by colonial powers from outside the polar region, because it has negative connotations from a time when they were a subjugated and oppressed people. Greenland suffers from a number of social problems. It has the highest suicide rate in the world and a high rate of alcoholism.

No complaints from customers

Denmark’s largest ice cream maker, Premier Is, however, does not intend to change the name (DK) of its popular popsicle: “For us Kæmpe Eskimo is nostalgia and the name of an ice cream that consumers love,” said Claus Dahlmann Larsen, commercial manager of the company. “And we haven’t received any referrals at all about it.” Dahlmann Larsen adds that they follow the debate and will listen to objections if they come because they do not wish to be offensive or exclude anyone.

That was only the beginning of the controversy. Both ice cream aficionados and antiracist activists have stormed social media with their clashing opinions. The most dramatic confrontation involved Tina Jakobsen Wilstrup, the owner of Frederiksberg Chokolade, which sells its own version of Eskimo-is: “I think it’s annoying because I don’t associate Eskimo-is with anything negative, it is almost a tribute in my world.”

Free popsicles - courageous or disrespectful?

Jakobsen Wilstrup felt so strongly about the tradition that she offered a free Eskimo-is to customers on Friday. Many customers showed up, not only to get a free snack but also to show their support for the shop: “People can be offended about anything,” says Jonas Bjørneskjold, who came with his wife and two children, and it could lead to a “violation tyranny.” 

But Jakobsen Wilstrup was surprised by other reactions: “I received threats, hate-mail, and my staff were threatened. I was called Nazi pig and a bad speller. . . . I know in my heart that I don’t want to offend anyone.”

Juno Berthelsen, cofounder of the Greenlandic organization Nalik, does not support hate-mail or threats but finds the free ice cream offer disrespectful. Greenlanders are still subject to racism in Denmark, and the word “Eskimo” is used in that context: “Businesses share responsibility for breaking this racist structure. . . . Ice cream is just ice cream, but a word is not just a word.”

Coronavirus DK: Resilience and its perils

Denmark was one of 30 countries that participated in a survey on mental health (DK) designed by the WHO, and the results are in. The study was conducted by Aarhus University. A questionnaire was sent to 2,000 people in two rounds. The first took place in late March, when the coronavirus was at its peak in Denmark - the reproduction rate and the number of deaths per day were at their highest. The second round took place one month later, when the number of infections and deaths were subsiding and the economy was reopening.

The subjects were asked how they felt when they got up in the morning, whether they were optimistic, and whether they felt rested and energetic. The findings from the first round were lower than historical levels. They showed more depression and anxiety. People were worried about both their health and their finances. The results from the second round were significantly higher. The subjects' psychological well-being had already begun to recover.

An adaptive species

While the higher second reading might not seem so surprising to a layperson, the amount and speed of the improvement impressed researchers. It made sense that people recovered their spirits, says Anders Korsgaard, a professor who works at Rigshospital’s Crisis Clinic: “We have an incredible ability to adjust and overcome violent events, crises and accidents. We also know that many people can have a good quality of life even with a chronic affliction such as a serious diagnosis."

Too much of a good thing

But in Denmark you rarely see good news without someone coming afterward with skepticism or dissent. TV2 News ran the headline “Danish coronavirus success can be the cause of a second wave (DK), says researcher.” The researcher is Allan Randrup Thomsen, who has been cited many times during the crisis. After seeing reports this week of crowds gathering at the resort town of Skagen at the northern tip of Jutland, he warned that the positive trend in Denmark may make people think the danger has passed and forget the precautions that have contained the virus thus far.

Randrup Thomsen cautions about the situation in Melbourne, Australia, which has had to implement a lockdown again after its initial success. He notes that crowds can be hotspots in Denmark as well as abroad, and people who are exposed to them should have themselves tested afterward; “In reality it is up to the people themselves what direction the epidemic will take in Denmark. The authorities can’t do much more.”

Mobile test center at a resort in northern Jutland. Photo: Henning Bagger © Scanpix.

1 million tested

Actually, Denmark’s testing program is going well. It has just passed the milestone of 1 million people tested (DK), about 20 percent of the population). Health officials are pleased with the progress: “We are well on our way to finding out how many infections we have in the country and we can find the new infections,” says  Jan Pravsgaard Christensen, Professor of Infection Immunology at University of Copenhagen.

Some 1.3 percent of those tested have been positive for the virus. The number of tests is actually around 1.3 million, since some people have been tested more than once. The number of new infections has been averaging around 22 per day, a manageable level, says Prasgaard Christensen; “We don’t need to worry unless we get several days with 50 to 75 cases.”

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: Masks catching on and also causing complaints

Since the Health Authority recommended the use of face masks in certain situations a few days ago, sales of masks have shot up (DK). They had begun to rise at the beginning of the summer vacation period, and after the announcement they took a further jump, from about 6,000 a week earlier to 41,000 last week. Retailers are restocking. They advise customers to look for the CE label, the certification mark that indicates conformity with safety standards in the European Economic Area, and to follow the instructions on proper use. Masks have been mandatory at the airports since June 15. 

Holdout on recommendation
Denmark is one of the few remaining countries – only 19 in the world – that does not recommend or require that people wear masks in public places The WHO changed its position on the subject recently as studies indicate that asymptomatic or presymptomatic people can spread the virus and masks offer some protection against it. The Danish Health Authority maintains its position (DK) that masks should be worn in situations where you are at risk of having the infection or being exposed to it, for example when traveling home from a high-risk country. 

The Health Authority holds that in other situations masks are a useful supplement if you cannot follow the general recommendations on social distancing and hand hygiene but that they can also increase the risk of infection if not used correctly. Because of the danger posed by incorrect use, it discourages the use of masks on young children (DK) and people with impaired motor skills, cognitive abilities or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Families on the Demon at Tivoli Gardens. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix.

Trouble in vacationland
Also as noted earlier, some amusement parks began requiring that their patrons wear masks when they ride on roller coasters. That is prompting dissatisfaction and complaints (DK) in certain quarters. Five amusement parks in the country are participating in this trial program. Two offer the masks to riders free of charge, and the others charge an extra DKK 5 ($1) for a mask. Since the masks can be used only a single time, the expense can be significant. 

One woman, for example, tweets on behalf of her family of four with a season pass: “We find out that we MUST all ride with masks on the best roller coasters . . . okay, fair enough, we can live with that . . . but fuck no to your taking 5 kroner per mask . . . and then we find out that they can’t even be used again.” Then she proceeds to do the math: 10 rides a day for the family comes to DKK 200 ($30) and nothing left for ice cream, food and drinks. “That’s fucking bullshit.”

Cheaters and scientific skeptics
The price isn’t the only problem with the policy. Some guests notice others using questionable homemade masks such as scarves or re-using them despite the amusement parks’ policy that masks must be an approved type and thrown out after use. Søren Kragelund, the chair of the Danish Amusement Parks Association, is not pleased with the policy either. He is glad that the masks allow patrons to avoid long lines because they can sit close together on the rides. But he doesn’t understand why masks should be necessary when people are on the roller coasters for only a couple of minutes instead of the 15 minutes required when registering exposure to the infection in the recently introduced contact-tracing app.

He can also cite researchers, such as Christine Stabell Benn, an epidemologist at Southern Denmark University, who says there is no evidence that masks work or that they need to be thrown out after one use. Kragelund continues to follow the policy but hopes that the Patient Safety Authority will ease up on the strict rule.

Coronavirus DK: Derivative epidemics

Besides the illness and death caused by the coronavirus, some of the measures to mitigate the pandemic also have harmful effects.

A plague of noise
Since the coronavirus epidemic began in Denmark, police have received an increased number of complaints about noisy neighbors and private parties (DK). When restaurants and bars are required to close at midnight, people often continue their socializing elsewhere, in their yards in the suburbs and small towns and in parks or on apartment balconies in the cities. And with the temperature up, people who entertain indoors keep their windows open.

The number of reports has risen 74 percent over the level last year. It is mainly young people with boomboxes who feel a need to congregate at high volume, say the police. The King’s Garden in Copenhagen began closing its gates earlier than usual, at 8 p.m., because “we had to signal that it must not be turned into a festival site,” said Niels Mellergaard of the Palaces and Culture Agency.

Photo by Rajas Chitnis on Unsplash.

CPH hires party monitors
The problem has become so bad in Copenhagen that the city has hired a troop of security guards (DK) to ensure that parties don’t cause sleep deprivation for their neighbors. The police had received complaints about clubs in the city center for years, but “this year the situation is especially bad because the corona restrictions have canceled music festivals and concerts, and bars close earlier or are completely closed,” says Nicolaj Vingtoft Hansen of the Muncipality of Copenhagen. The security guards will be sent out to spots in the city where students and other young people tend to congregate late into the night, and they will advise people to observe pandemic guidelines as well as to moderate their noise level.

Upsurge in waistlines
Three Danish researchers are warning of a secondary epidemic that the coronavirus is exacerbating: overweight and obesity (DK). “Obesity is not just a matter of how much we eat but also our social and psychological conditions,” says Michael Bang Petersen, a professor at Aarhus University who studies biological psychology. “Economic and psychological uncertainty, unemployment and the like cause the body to react with stress and increase fat reserves,” adds Thorkild L. Sørensen, professor at the Metabolism Center at University of Copenhagen.

People are also less active because they are staying home. A study by the Sports Research Institute shows that 38 percent of adults in Denmark have stopped exercising during the crisis. Fitness World, the largest gym chain in the country, reports that it normally would have had 7 million visits in the months when it was closed during the lockdown.

Welfare state mitigates the worst effects
The researchers note, however, that in Denmark the problem is relatively mild because the country’s social welfare system enables it to avoid the worst effects of the pandemic on health. “The greater equality in society and the more security we provide people who are at risk of having their livelihood threatened by the coronavirus, the better,” says Christopher Clemmensen, who studies obesity at the University of Copenhagen. 

Around 51 percent of Danes are overweight, that is, have a BMI above 25, and 17 percent are obese, with a BMI above 30. In comparison, the obesity rate for Germans is 25 percent. In the US, where the obesity rate is over 40 percent and has been a glaring problem for decades, the concerns have focused on the increased risk of death it poses for patients with COVID-19.

Coronavirus DK: Travel industry caught in a holding pattern

Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport had expected a drop in business during the coronavirus crisis, but its size was a shock. The airport has seen a 95 percent decline in passengers (DK) in comparison with the same period last year, it reported in a press release. Even though Denmark has now opened its borders for travelers from many countries, the airport expects business to be down around 85 percent for the summer. That means a loss of some 1.5 million tourists and business travelers. The decline affects airlines, hotels and restaurants as well.

This trend puts the airport in a “deep crisis,” says business commentator Ole Krohn from TV2 News: “It will be a couple of years before it is back to the same level from before the coronavirus crisis.” The same forecast applies to other airports in Europe.

Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen © Scanpix.

Thousands waiting for refunds

Meanwhile, SAS, the largest airline in Scandinavia, is swamped with requests for refunds for canceled flights (DK). According to EU rules, airlines are supposed to refund such tickets within seven days, but with thousands of canceled flights and hundreds of staffers sent home, the company  cannot keep up with the requests. “For almost three months, we have canceled around 800 flights a day,” says John Eckhoff, the company’s press officer. So far, SAS has given refunds to about 700,000 customers, with about one-third opting for a voucher to use on another flight within 12 months.

According to an estimate from Norway, SAS owes customers about DKK 5 billion (USD 770 million), which is more than the DKK 4.3 billion that the Danish state has contributed to the plan to rescue the company from bankruptcy. Norwegian Airlines, the second-largest airline in the region, is in the same position. It has refunded DKK 3.2 billion to customers. 

May miss her father’s funeral

One of the people waiting for a refund is Ingileif Gísladóttir (DK). She had booked five round-trip tickets so that at Easter her family could visit relatives in Iceland, where her father was seriously ill. When the pandemic hit, the flight was canceled, and then to make things worse, her father died on April 7, when her family should have been there with him. Now she is hesitating before buying tickets so that she can attend her father’s funeral because she has no idea when she will receive the refund for the first set of tickets. 

“You must fill out a form that was hard to find - it was like a labyrinth tracking it down,” says Gísladóttir. Then it was hard to get hold of a service representative, who was not very helpful. “I think it was bad, bad service.” When asked whether customers would receive their refunds before the end of the year, SAS’s Eckhoff said that he could not give an estimate.

Stranded at dock
Another overlooked class of people who haven’t been able to travel home to see their families is sailors. One of them was Captain Jens Holstrøm Andersen, who went onboard the Pacific Dragon ship in February, expecting to be at sea for only two months. He had been confined on the ship at harbor in Egypt (DK) and elsewhere indefinitely because no countries would let the crew in. Shipping companies were also reluctant to take new crews onboard because of the risk of infection. Some 400 Danes and perhaps a total of 200,000 sailors in the world are in the same situation, says the Lederne Søfart (Maritime Leaders) organization. Holstrøm Andersen was finally able to return to his family because Denmark gave him status as an “essential worker.”

Non-virus interlude: Mayhem in the streets, Danish style

What’s going on here? 

Photo: Ekstra Bladet.

In the US, when you see a photo like this, you might think it’s from another BLM protest, an Antifa attack, or a white supremacist rally that got out of hand, and wonder when the country will ever recover. Not here. This is a brawl between soccer fans (DK) of the arch-rival clubs FCK (Copenhagen) and Brøndby before a big match on Sunday. Denmark has the luxury of being able to go amuck about less serious things than structural racism and the capitalist patriarchy.

Terror in Tivoli

Saturday evening, the police got a report of a man with a gun in Tivoli Gardens (DK) in central Copenhagen. Several police cars with cops in riot gear descended on the world’s oldest amusement park and pacified the guy without incident. “It turned out it was a toy pistol,” said shift captain Henrik Svejstrup. “Maybe not exactly the place to do it.” The man was charged with threatening behavior.

We can attack statues too

In my own neighborhood of Frederiksberg, a statue drama of Lilliputian dimensions (DK) is unfolding. In 2006, a small plaza opposite the main shopping mall in the area was renamed Empress Dagmar’s Plaza. David Munis Zepernick, a councilman from the Social Liberal Party, wants it renamed and the statue torn down. Dagmar (1847-1928), a Danish princess who married Emperor Alexander III of Russia and became known as Empress Maria Feodorovna, had no connection to Frederiksberg, explains Munis Zepernick. She was commemorated there only because of base commercial interests of Russian companies and Danish firms with export business in Russia.

Like honoring Hitler’s mistress

Say what? Yes, Munis Zepernick asserts that the comparison is apt because Alexander III was one of the worst tyrants and antisemites in history. The councilman has a convenient solution that would also address the “uniform masculine white dominance and almost total lack of presence of female historical figures in the city space”: Rename the spot “Queen Margrethe’s Plaza” after both Margrethe I (1353-1412) and Margrethe II, Denmark’s current monarch.

Defending Dagmar

Nicolaj Bøgh, Chair of the Frederiksberg’s Culture and Leisure Committee and member of the Conservative Party, takes a dim view of “hopping onto the stupefying contemporary identity politics wave and attempting to edit the past.” Destroying Dagmar’s statue because you don’t like her husband seems absurd and has little to do with the cause of equality, says Bøgh.

Frederiksberg has long had close relations with the royal family, he adds. Dagmar’s brother, King George of Greece, and his family are commemorated in the names of nearby streets. Dagmar passed the last years of her tumultuous life in Denmark after her son, Emperor Nicholas II, abdicated and was executed by the revolutionary government in 1918.

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: Big shifts in trust in government and the US

Two interesting surveys have just been released, and the results in Denmark have implications for an understanding of the situation in the United States.

One is the annual Tryghedsanalyse (DK) (security survey) conducted by a foundation associated with the Tryg insurance group. It gathered data from both before and after the onset of the coronavirus crisis, ending on May 22. It showed, among other things, that 84 percent of Danes surveyed were very or fairly satisfied with the government’s management of the epidemic. That was the highest rating of any European country. Norway and Finland came next. Toward the bottom were Sweden (55 percent), the UK (45 percent) and France (37 percent). Confidence in all public institutions rose, not only the administration and Parliament but also the police, the courts and the EU.

Rising to the occasion

In a column on Altinget.dk, Lisbeth Knudsen (DK), former editor in chief of a major daily, calls this a significant change in recent Danish politics. It begins, “For years we have discussed what would be necessary to turn around the public’s worrying and growing lack of confidence in politicians. . . . We now have the answer: an enormous, comprehensive health care crisis.” The pandemic showed that the government could respond effectively and collaborate constructively with other parties in Parliament, without the usual bickering and personal attacks.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen succeeded in presenting a narrative that appealed to the country’s social democratic principle of solidarity at a time when many were more insecure than ever about losing their jobs, partly by emphasizing an obligation to protect those who were most vulnerable to the virus. The crisis has strengthened the Social Democrats’ standing in polls, and it has also forced the opposition to take an approach based more clearly on solutions and new ideas rather than tactical criticism.

Litmus test for the world

The results of the poll show an extreme contrast with Donald Trump’s current record-high disapproval rating and Americans’ growing distrust in government. The pandemic has served as a sort of acid test that throws the strengths and weaknesses of all countries into stark relief. This reflects not only on their leaders but also their institutions, such as the CDC, which bungled the testing at the outset of outbreak, despite all its plans and resources.

Former enemy overtakes Cold War champion

The other survey, which was conducted by the independent research institutes Moos-Bjerre and Userneeds and whose results were released in Weekendavisen (DK, paywall), concerns Denmark’s international security alliances. It has more direct relevance to the US, which has been Denmark’s most important ally throughout the Cold War and after. The poll shows that now only 40 percent of Danes surveyed agree with the statement “The USA is Denmark’s most important ally,” while 54 percent now assign that role to Germany. 

In addition, 65 percent believe that “In the future, Denmark  should give priority to collaboration with the other EU countries over collaboration with the USA.” These are historic shifts, and somewhat surprising, since Germany is no military power and Denmark has often taken a dissenting position in the EU, regarding immigration and shared debt for example.

How much blame does Trump deserve?

One can debate how much the development is owing to Trump and his myopic nationalism, particularly his threats to leave NATO. For a while after Trump’s election, most Danes probably agreed with former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen that “The USA is Denmark’s most important ally – no matter who is in the White House.” Brexit may also have nudged Denmark closer to its continental European neighbors, and Emmanuel Macron’s tribulations may have left Angela Merkel as the clearest leader of what used to be called “the Free World.” But Trump has undoubtedly soured Danes' perception of the US, even though it remains the only superpower in the West.