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No new decision on Danish lockdown until ‘very close’ to May 10: PM

Denmark's government will not decide which lockdown restriction to lift next until "very close" to May 10, the country's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview on Danish television on Sunday.

No new decision on Danish lockdown until 'very close' to May 10: PM
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen gives a speech on May 1. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix
The restrictions to be lifted in the so-called 'phase two' of reopening might include the closure of shopping centres, cafés, and restaurants, or the closure of schools to elder pupils. 
 
But Frederiksen said the government wanted to be cautious, and take decisions based only on the situation at the time the lifting is scheduled to take place.
 
“We are only going to take a decision very close to May 10,” she told the 21 Søndag programme on Denmark's public broadcaster DR. 
 
“It is insidious, this disease, and things might look different in a few days. It takes time to go from getting infected to becoming seriously ill.”
 
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In the interview, Frederiksen explained that if the government moved either too soon or too late in lifting restrictions, it risked causing damage, either to people's health or to the economy, making the timing crucial. 
 
“If you go too fast and become impatient and open up too much, then we risk the infection spreading and us losing the control we have achieved the first time around. But conversely, if we are overly cautious and slow, then there is also a risk involved.” 
 
Denmark's parliamentary parties are currently discussing the next stage in the country's opening, based on information provided by the country's infectious diseases agency SSI. 
 
 
Frederiksen said health would be the first consideration, followed by what would have the most economic impact, followed by how the measures impact social life in Denmark. 
 
The opposition Liberal Party has called for shopping centres, restaurants and cafés to be next to reopen. 

Member comments

  1. Somehow people are forgetting that there is also mental health, which suffers from being long isolated. And that has long term effects.

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MARRIAGE

Danish PM postpones wedding for work…for third time

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thought she had finally found a date for her wedding, but has now had to postpone it for a third time due to an EU summit, she said Thursday.

Danish PM postpones wedding for work...for third time
Mette Frederiksen with her live-in partner, the Danish photographer Bo Tengberg. Photo: Facebook/Mette Frederiksen
Many a wedding plan has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic and it seems not even world leaders are immune.
   
“I am really looking forward to marrying this fantastic man,” Frederiksen wrote in a Facebook post alongside a photo of herself and her fiance Bo.
 
“But obviously it can't be that easy, and now there is a council meeting in Brussels called, exactly on that Saturday in July when we had planned to marry,” she wrote. “But I have to do my work and take care of Denmark's interests. So we have to change plans again.
   
“Soon we should be able to get married. I'm looking forward to saying yes to Bo (who fortunately is very patient).”
 
   
The extraordinary European Council meeting on July 17-18, which will be held in Brussels in the presence of the 27 heads of the member states, was decided last week at a virtual meeting.
   
It will be the first summit where the leaders will actually be present since the coronavirus lockdown began months ago.
   
 
During the meeting leaders are set to discuss a recovery plan in response to the COVID-19 crisis and a new EU budget.
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