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COPENHAGEN

Denmark announces new national measures and tighter rules for Copenhagen region

Denmark’s government has announced new national measures, along with restrictions and mass testing for young people in 17 municipalities in and around Copenhagen in an effort to curb increasing Covid-19 infections.

Denmark announces new national measures and tighter rules for Copenhagen region
Health minister Magnus Heunicke (2nd R) and health officials speak to press on Tuesday. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The measures were confirmed by health minister Magnus Heunicke at a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon and in a Ministry of Health statement.

The 17 municipalities are the central Copenhagen and Frederiksberg municipalities along with Albertslund, Ballerup, Brøndby, Dragør, Gentofte, Gladsaxe, Glostrup, Herlev, Hvidovre, Høje-Taastrup, Ishøj, Lyngby-Taarbæk, Rødovre, Tårnby and Vallensbæk.

The national measures are as follows:

  • Stores required to implement one-way system for customer traffic
  • National recommendations on floor space (per square metre) per customer to become compulsory, and signs must be placed in shops.

In the 17 Copenhagen municipalities:

  • All young people between the age of 17 and 25 asked to take a Covid-19 test
  • Christmas shoppers asked to enter stores on their own
  • Universities asked to conduct classes and exams online wherever possible
  • A limit of 10 people at sporting and club activities for children and youths up to the age of 21 years. Activities for vulnerable children are exempted
  • Children in primary education, and people in youth and adult education (grundskolen, ungdoms- og voksenuddannelser) must stay in class groups during lunch breaks
  • Students at youth and adult education must not be taught in groups which mix regular classes or year groups
  • The government encourages schools to cancel classes in subjects with high infection risk, such as sports or music
  • All workplaces asked to facilitate working from home wherever possible.

The restrictions take effect from December 7th and will stay in place until January 2nd 2021. National restrictions already in place remain effective, including those relating to face mask use, assembly limits and sales of alcohol.

The government’s advisory board, including health authorities, recommended the interventions based on relatively high infection rates in Denmark and particularly in the 17 municipalities in question, the ministry said in the statement.

“We are providing extra teams so that all the young people in these municipalities can get a test before Christmas,” Heunicke said at the briefing.

“That is as many as 200,000 tests in the municipalities. We will go out to places of education and do everything we can,” the minister added.

Heunicke said that infections were notably higher amongst the younger age group, with 26 percent of infections in Copenhagen occurring in young people.

“I know it’s a difficult time. You miss friends and parties. But it’s crucial that we stick together and hold on right now. Not least because there’s a vaccine just around the corner,” he said.

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The minister stressed that the message to young people over testing was a request, not an order.

Efforts to mass-test young people in the Copenhagen region will begin on Wednesday in Ishøj and Brøndby before later being rolled out to the remaining municipalities around Copenhagen.

Søren Brostrøm, director of the Danish Health Authority, described the situation in the capital as a “greater Copenhagen epidemic”.

“When we look at the greater Copenhagen epidemic – as I call it – we see a concerning development we are not seeing in other regions,” he said.

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TRANSPORT

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

Lines M3 and M4 of the Copenhagen Metro are back in service having reopened on Sunday, one day ahead of schedule.

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

The two lines had been closed so that the Metro can run test operations before opening five new stations on the M4 line this summer.

The tests, which began on February 10th, are now done and the lines were running again as of Sunday evening, a day ahead of the original planned reopening on Monday February 26th.

“We are very pleased to be able to welcome our passengers on to our two lines M3 and M4,” head of operations with the Metro Søren Boysen said.

“The whole test procedure exceeded all expectations and went faster than expected and we can therefore get a head start on our reopening now,” he said.

Time set aside for potential repeat tests was not needed in the event, allowing the test closures to be completed ahead of time.

“Several of our many tests went better than expected and we have therefore not used all the time we needed for extra tests,” Boysen said.

The two lines serve around one million passengers every week, according to the Metro company.

READ ALSO: Copenhagen city government greenlights extension to Metro line

The new stops on the M4 line will be located south of central Copenhagen in the Valby and Sydhavn areas. The will have the names Haveholmen, Enghave Brygge, Sluseholmen, Mozarts Plads and København Syd (Copenhagen South).

The M3 and M4 lines, the newer sections of the Metro, opened in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

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