SHARE
COPY LINK

PARLIAMENT

Danish PM Frederiksen awaits result of coronavirus test

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been tested for coronavirus and is currently in isolation, the Prime Minister's office confirmed in a statement on Wednesday morning.

Danish PM Frederiksen awaits result of coronavirus test
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The PM attended a meeting alongside Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup at the end of last week. Hækkerup, who said on Tuesday he was experiencing symptoms and awaiting a test result, has now confirmed a positive test for Covid-19.

“The Prime Minister participated in a meeting with the justice minister on Friday October 30th 2020, where all guidelines for social distance etc. were followed,” the government statement read.

“The Prime Minister is currently showing no symptoms pf Covid-19 and will, as far as possible, continue to work via virtual meetings,” it added.

Hækkerup said in a Facebook post that he had a cough and fever but is in good spirits.

Frederiksen, along with several other leading government figures including foreign minister Jeppe Kofod, health minister Magnus Heunicke and finance minister Nicolai Wammen, have also met with Hækkerup and are now in isolation as they await the results of their Covid-19 tests.

“The virus has spread to both parliament and the government. I am in isolation and will be tested. Though I have no symptoms of the disease. Take care of each other,” Frederiksen wrote on Facebook.

A series of ministers, members of parliament and a party leader – Søren Pape Poulsen of the Conservatives – were yesterday confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19. A number of other parliamentarians have isolated due to suspected contact with the virus and Frederiksen's questions session in parliament was postponed.

The most serious report regarding infected Danish politicians concerns Lars Christian Lilleholt of the Liberal (Venstre) party. Lilleholt, a former minister who is now the Liberal defence spokesperson, has been admitted to the University Hospital in Odense with pneumonia after testing positive for coronavirus and has been given the experimental treatment Remdesivir, he confirmed in a social media post.

READ ALSO: Is Denmark's parliament at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak?

An ex-minister suggested that procedures at the Christiansborg parliament be adapted to prevent the spread of infection.

“Perhaps – very carefully suggested – Parliament should rethink consultations and votes. Not by not having them. But the way they take place. Disease is every man's master,” Søren Pind wrote on Twitter.

The parliament has said it will restrict the number of people who can attend meetings.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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.

SHOW COMMENTS