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AIRPORT

Swede causes airborne meningitis scare

A Swedish woman was at the heart of a meningitis scare aboard a plane which was held in isolation at Copenhagen Kastrup airport on Wednesday after revealing that she may be suffering from the potentially fatal condition.

A 62-year-old Swedish woman had during the flight from Lisbon informed co-passengers that she had left a Portuguese hospital where she had been held under surveillance due to suspicion she was suffering from meningitis.

“They were a bit nervous. We called the doctors, and when the plane landed we didn’t take it to the gate but to another part of the airport,” Arne Aabeck, the Copenhagen chief inspector in charge of the case, told AFP.

The Air Portugal flight, carrying 59 passengers and four crew members, landed around 2:30 pm (1330 GMT) and the passengers were not allowed off the Airbus 319 plane until 5pm, he said.

“The doctors said you have to be together with the person with meningitis for at least eight hours (before being infected). That is why we are no longer worried,” he said, adding that the sick passenger had been taken to a Danish hospital by ambulance.

“The passengers have been informed by a doctor what symptoms to look for in case,” Aabeck said, adding it was unclear how the Swedish woman had left the hospital in Portugal.

“She just left. I don’t know if she escaped,” he said.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the central nervous system.

While some forms are mild, meningitis is a serious condition if the inflammation is close to the brain and spinal cord. It can be very contagious and can lead to death if untreated.

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TRANSPORT

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

Lines M3 and M4 of the Copenhagen Metro are back in service having reopened on Sunday, one day ahead of schedule.

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

The two lines had been closed so that the Metro can run test operations before opening five new stations on the M4 line this summer.

The tests, which began on February 10th, are now done and the lines were running again as of Sunday evening, a day ahead of the original planned reopening on Monday February 26th.

“We are very pleased to be able to welcome our passengers on to our two lines M3 and M4,” head of operations with the Metro Søren Boysen said.

“The whole test procedure exceeded all expectations and went faster than expected and we can therefore get a head start on our reopening now,” he said.

Time set aside for potential repeat tests was not needed in the event, allowing the test closures to be completed ahead of time.

“Several of our many tests went better than expected and we have therefore not used all the time we needed for extra tests,” Boysen said.

The two lines serve around one million passengers every week, according to the Metro company.

READ ALSO: Copenhagen city government greenlights extension to Metro line

The new stops on the M4 line will be located south of central Copenhagen in the Valby and Sydhavn areas. The will have the names Haveholmen, Enghave Brygge, Sluseholmen, Mozarts Plads and København Syd (Copenhagen South).

The M3 and M4 lines, the newer sections of the Metro, opened in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

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