The decision comes at a time when the country is wracking a record number of cases
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Denmark will remove on February 1 all restrictions imposed in the fourth wave of the epidemic, despite the record number of infections. The basis of the decision is the low risk of the micron variant and the large number of people vaccinated, the government announced on Wednesday.
Covid-19 is no longer considered a “dangerous” disease of society, which means the extinction of current measures: masks will no longer be used in enclosed spaces and restrictions in restaurants, in cultural and social life. Nightclubs will be reopening.
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“We are ready to come out of the shadow of the coronavirus, say goodbye to the restrictions and welcome the life we lived before. The epidemic is ongoing, but we are past the critical stage,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a press conference.
Mette Frederiksen spoke of a “milestone” and a “transition” to a new stage, stressing that the decision has the support of the scientific committee that has been helping the government since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. “It may seem strange and contradictory that we are going to lift restrictions with the current levels of infection, but we have to look at more numbers. One of the most important of those problems is serious illness and that curve has broken,” he said.
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Denmark, one of the countries most tested against Covid-19 in the world, recorded 46,747 new cases in the past 24 hours, nine times more than a year ago at the height of the second wave, but only recorded 938 cases. Hospitalized, less than 50. Compared to 2021. Health authorities have also admitted, at the moment, that between 30% and 40% of those admitted are people who were hospitalized for other reasons and who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
The total number of patients in intensive care units (ICU) is 40, half the number a few weeks ago, confirming that Micron is the “least harmful” alternative, according to the prime minister. Frederiksen also cited high vaccination numbers as the second determining factor: 80.6% of Danes received the full schedule and 60% the booster dose.
Danish authorities expect the contagion to continue for a few more weeks, but consider it disproportionate to maintain the current restrictions.
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