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COVID-19

Denmark extends mandatory face mask order to public transport in six municipalities

People in Aarhus, Silkeborg, Odder, Horsens, Skanderborg and Favrskov are required to wear face masks on buses and trains as of Tuesday.

Published: 10 August 2020 16:55 CEST
Denmark extends mandatory face mask order to public transport in six municipalities
The Danish government holds a coronavirus press briefing on August 10th. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The expansion of the measure, which initially only applied to Aarhus, was confirmed by the transport ministry to news agency Ritzau.

At a press briefing, health minister Magnus Heunicke cited central Jutland town Silkeborg as an area now also on health authorities’ radar after 42 new cases of coronavirus were detected there during the last week.

Seven municipalities in Denmark now have Covid-19 cumulative numbers for the last week above the 20 per 100,000 resident-threshold used by authorities to determine whether to advise against travel abroad. It should be noted that figures used in travel guidelines are two-week cumulative totals, rather than one-week.

READ ALSO: Danish PM warns to maintain social distancing rules as coronavirus infection rates rise in Denmark

The seven are not the same municipalities encompassed by the expanded face mask order, all of which are located close to Aarhus.

The seven municipalities with the highest current infection numbers are Aarhus (104.9 infections per 100,000 residents), Ringsted (77.5), Silkeborg (44.7), Glostrup (34.6), Nyborg (31.2), Solrød (30.1) and Sorø (20.1). Jutland, Funen and Zealand are all represented on this list.

 

Copenhagen is currently at 11.4 infections per 100,000 residents and Odense is at 6.3, according to the municipal breakdown published by DR.

The spike in Silkeborg is itself limited and “with high likelihood” connected to the Aarhus outbreak, director Anne Lykke Petri of national infectious disease institute SSI said at a government briefing on Monday.

“In Silkeborg (the outbreak) is limited, in Aarhus it is spread across the municipality. It has emerged at private parties, workplaces and so on,” Petri said.

The situation in Aarhus, which contributed 40 of the 76 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Denmark Monday, continues to be the most concerning for authorities.

“The virus is now on the move again in our society,” Heunicke said.

READ ALSO: UPDATED Aarhus coronavirus outbreak: here's what you need to know

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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.” 

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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