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Denmark to introduce mandatory entry quarantine

The Danish parliament has voted to implement an emergency law change requiring people who travel into the country to self-quarantine and take a test for coronavirus.

Published: 2 February 2021 21:34 CET
Denmark to introduce mandatory entry quarantine
Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark has previously requested people arriving from so-called ‘red’ risk zones for Covid-19 to isolate but has not enforced quarantine. That practice will now change, the health ministry said in a statement.

No date has yet been specified for when the law will come into force.

“Our Achilles heel is to a great extent the introduction and spread of new, more infectious virus variants,” health minister Magnus Heunicke said in the statement.

“It is therefore crucial that we, as far as possible, prevent (mutations) from being brought into the country,” Heunicke added.

The new law is expected to demand that people arriving in the country from abroad to be tested for Covid-19 and to isolate for 10 days.

Certain exemptions will apply, including for people living in border regions and people who regularly cross the Danish border as part of their work. Other reasons including transport and essential services may also provide exemption from quarantine rules.

Special rules will also be formulated for people transiting through Sweden to reach the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm.

Until the new rules come into effect, the current ban on incoming flights from the United Arab Emirates will remain in place, the Ministry of Transport has confirmed. The ban has been extended from February 2nd for up to one week.

READ ALSO: These are Denmark's current Covid-19 travel restrictions

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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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