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HEALTH

Denmark after lockdown: Hairdressers and other professions re-open

The Danish government has announced the reopening guidelines for professions such hairdressers, physiotherapists, dentists and beauticians as they re-opened business on Monday.

Denmark after lockdown: Hairdressers and other professions re-open
Illustration photo: Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix

At a press meeting on Sunday afternoon, Business Minister Simon Kollerup announced the set of guidelines for how businesses can reopen responsibly, which have been decided with business organisations and health authorities.

“It goes without saying that you cannot avoid contact with a masseur or hairdresser. But the new guidelines need to reduce our infection,” said Kollerup.

Last week Denmark's government struck a cross-party deal to reopen certain professions from next week.

These include dentists, hairdressers, driving schools, masseurs, beauticians, tattooists, physiotherapists. The public institutions which will open include courts, family courts, prisons (for newly sentenced), research laboratories.

Below are some of the guidelines set out today. Full details can be found by clicking this link to the Ministry of Business (Erhvervsministeriet) document.

Face-to-face contact

* Face-to-face contact should be as short as possible and at a distance.

* In situations where prolonged close contact cannot be avoided, there should be a physical barrier between staff and customer.  This could be a mask or visor, or a screen in a nail salon where the customer can put their hands through.

Hygiene

* Employees must wash their hands thoroughly before and after each customer, in addition to other general hand washing times.

* Employees should, where possible, use their own tools/equipment.

* Thorough cleaning of equipment after each treatment and a plan for general cleaning and disinfecting of equipment.

* Thorough cleaning of surfaces such as handles, handrails, light switches, tables, computers that are touched by many.

* Laundry, such as towels, to be washed at 80 degrees.

Premises

* There should be at least two meters distance between customers' locations. 

* Any waiting rooms should be closed or arranged so that it is possible to keep a minimum of two meters distance.

* Magazines, toys etc. must be removed from the premises.

* Water and soap or hand sanitizer must be available to customers and employees.

* Information leaflets about coronavirus symptoms and good hygiene should be available in or near the premises.

* Staggered or extended opening and meeting times should be used, to prevent too many employees from working at the same time and to reduce the amount of customers.

* For practical driving lessons there should be no more than one student and one driving teacher per car.

 

 

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HEALTH

Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

Denmark's government has struck a deal with four other parties to raise the point in a pregnancy from which a foetus can be aborted from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, in the first big change to Danish abortion law in 50 years.

Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

The government struck the deal with the Socialist Left Party, the Red Green Alliance, the Social Liberal Party and the Alternative party, last week with the formal announcement made on Monday  

“In terms of health, there is no evidence for the current week limit, nor is there anything to suggest that there will be significantly more or later abortions by moving the week limit,” Sophie Løhde, Denmark’s Minister of the Interior and Health, said in a press release announcing the deal.

The move follows the recommendations of Denmark’s Ethics Council, which in September 2023 proposed raising the term limit, pointing out that Denmark had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Western Europe. 

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Under the deal, the seven parties, together with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives, have also entered into an agreement to replace the five regional abortion bodies with a new national abortion board, which will be based in Aarhus. 

From July 1st, 2025, this new board will be able to grant permission for abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy if there are special considerations to take into account. 

The parties have also agreed to grant 15-17-year-olds the right to have an abortion without parental consent or permission from the abortion board.

Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s minister for Digitalization and Equality, said in the press release that this followed logically from the age of sexual consent, which is 15 years old in Denmark. 

“Choosing whether to have an abortion is a difficult situation, and I hope that young women would get the support of their parents. But if there is disagreement, it must ultimately be the young woman’s own decision whether she wants to be a mother,” she said. 

The bill will be tabled in parliament over the coming year with the changes then coming into force on June 1st, 2025.

The right to free abortion was introduced in Denmark in 1973. 

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