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COVID-19

Danish nationals test negative for coronavirus after repatriation from China

A total of 15 people were transported to Denmark from Hubei province in China in recent days.

Published: 4 February 2020 17:37 CET
Danish nationals test negative for coronavirus after repatriation from China
An ambulance is seen leaving Roskilde Airport. Photo.Claus Bech/Ritzau Scanpix

All of the Danish nationals who returned from Hubei province on Friday and Sunday have tested negative for new coronavirus, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The tests were conducted by national infectious disease centre SSI.

“All have been tested as negative by experts at SSI. Based on the precautionary approach applied by the health authorities, the returnees will continue to be monitored, so the risk assessment level will not yet be downgraded,” health minister Magnus Heunicke said in the statement.

A total of 15 people were flown to Roskilde Airport during the weekend after being extracted from China.

11 of the 15 are Danish nationals. Three are from other Nordic countries and were transported onwards, while one was involved in transporting security equipment for the foreign ministry during the repatriation and wore protective equipment throughout, according to the ministry press statement. As such, 11 Danes tested negative for coronavirus.

Coronavirus was first detected in December in the Wuhan metropolitan area of ​​Hubei, central China. Over 17,000 people have so far been infected and more than 360 have died from the disease.

Cases have been confirmed in other countries, including France, Germany and Sweden. One death – in Hong Kong – has occurred outside of mainland China.

On Tuesday, Scandinavian airline SAS announced that it is cancelling all departures to and from China for the remainder of February due to the virus.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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