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COVID-19

Two new coronavirus infections confirmed in Denmark

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Denmark is now at six.

Two new coronavirus infections confirmed in Denmark
Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Two new cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed by the Danish Patient Safety Authority (Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed) on the agency’s website.

Both new cases are Danish nationals who returned to the country on February 29th from holiday in northern Italy.

They are not connected to each other, however, and were infected and travelled home separately.

On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs updated its official travel guidelines to advise against all non-essential travel to Italian regions Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto.

Also on Monday, 127 people were put in quarantine at their homes in response to the country's four prior confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.

Of the four previous Danish coronavirus cases, two of these had recently returned from trips to northern Italy. One had travelled to a conference in Munich, Germany and the final individual has been connected to one of the northern Italy infections. All four people are not considered to be seriously ill.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus in Denmark: What's the latest news and how concerned should you be?

No information has been released as to the gender, age or place of residence in Denmark of the two latest cases.

The Patient Safety Authority is now working to trace people who may have been in close contact with the two.

People who have been in contact with infected persons are normally placed in home quarantine for up to 14 days. Quarantine is used if, after thorough assessment of the individual, it is considered that there is a high risk that they may have been exposed to infection.

The Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen, DHA) has estimated that as many as 500,000 people in the country (less than 10 percent of the population) could catch the virus in a worst-case scenario, but that the majority would not become sick enough to need care from the health services.

According to John Hopkins University, a total of 90,000 infections have now been registered globally, the vast majority in China.

The total number of people who have been confirmed to have recovered is up to 48,000.

The World Health Organisation has said that more than 80 percent of patients infected with the virus have mild symptoms and recover, while 14 percent develop severe diseases such as pneumonia. 

Around five percent of cases are considered critical, while only 2 percent prove fatal. The elderly and people with conditions that weaken their immune system are most likely to develop severe symptoms.

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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.

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.” 

READ ALSO: 

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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