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COVID-19 STATS

IN NUMBERS: The current status of the Covid-19 epidemic in Denmark

Tuesday saw over 2,000 new cases of Covid-19 registered in Denmark for the sixth consecutive day as the government moves to reintroduce the country’s coronapas health pass.

Published: 9 November 2021 16:03 CET
Covid-19 vaccination centre in Denmark. The country is currently seeing some of its highest infection numbers throughout the pandemic.
Covid-19 vaccination centre in Denmark. The country is currently seeing some of its highest infection numbers throughout the pandemic. photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

A further 2,562 people tested positive for the virus in the latest daily update released by the national infectious disease agency State Serum Institute (SSI).

The 2,562 positive results came from a total of 109,670 tests, giving a test positivity rate of 2.34 percent. That is a little higher than the positivity rate generally seen in November, which has been closer to 2 percent.

Going back a month, the number of positive tests on October 9th was 467. On September 9th it was 485.

The high numbers in early November have elicited a response from the government, with the coronapas health pass set to be reintroduced at bars, restaurants and large events.

READ ALSO: Danish parliament expected to green-light return of coronapas

Late June saw the lowest numbers for daily new cases in Denmark this year, when totals fell under 200 on a number of occasions. Not since early January have daily cases previously numbered over 2,000.

It should be noted, however, that the national vaccination campaign had only just commenced in January 2021, when the country was also in lockdown. With far lower vaccination coverage, a similar number of infections would have been far more likely to result in more serious illness and hospitalisations. 

The number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 in Denmark is also increasing. 58 people were admitted to hospitals nationally with the coronavirus over the last day.

That number remains considerably lower that daily hospitalisation numbers seen at the peak of Denmark’s second wave of the Covid-19 in December 2020 and early January 2021.

December 28 saw 210 people admitted to Danish hospitals with the coronavirus. That is the highest number seen during the pandemic.

Once discharges are taken into account, the total of people in hospital with the virus rose by 12 overall during the last day, from 303 to 315.

Monday’s total of 303 was the first time since February with over 300 Covid-19 patients in Danish hospitals.

Up to 60-160 people could be hospitalised with the virus daily in early December, according to projections released last week by SSI’s expert mathematical modelling group.

This does not mean the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 will increase this much each day, because it does not take into account the number of discharged patients.

SSI’s vaccination dashboard shows that 4,420,698 people or 75.3 percent of the population of Denmark is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, while 76.6 percent have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

6.8 percent have been given a booster vaccination, which is being currently being offered to vulnerable people, health sector workers, people in older age groups and people who were originally given the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.

READ ALSO: Denmark to give booster Covid-19 jab six months after vaccination

A further 37,015 people booked vaccines after the government’s announcement on Monday evening that it will reintroduce the coronapas, according to a tweet by Health Minister Magnus Heunicke. That represents a 3.5-fold increase on the previous day, Heunicke wrote.

Two more deaths with Covid-19 on Tuesday took the total death toll with the virus in Denmark to 2,742 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The return of the coronapas could have the effect of encouraging more people to get vaccinated or take a Covid-19 test, since both vaccination or a recent negative test can form the basis for a valid coronapas.

“Both vaccines and testing can help slow spread of infections. And vaccines can mean that even though you’re infected, the risk of you ending in hospital or losing your life is smaller,” senior consultant and professor in infectious medicine at Aarhus University hospital, Lars Østergaard, told news wire Ritzau.

The effect on Denmark’s hospitalisation and infection numbers of bringing back the coronapas will not be apparent until “a week to 14 days” after it takes effect, the professor said.

READ ALSO: Danish prime minister aims ire at vaccine sceptics

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COVID-19

Germany’s weekly Covid infection rate rises above 500

Germany recorded a weekly Covid incidence of more than 500 per 100,000 people on Monday as health experts warn that the fifth wave of the pandemic has only just begun.

Published: 17 January 2022 13:09 CET
Bar in Berlin's Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, which has the highest incidence in the country.
People sit outside bars in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, where incidences are currently the highest in the country. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christophe Gateau

On Monday, the 7-day incidence of Covid infections per 100,000 people stood at 528, up from 515 the day before and 376 a week ago. 

Infections have been rising rapidly as the highly transmissible Omicron variant tightens its hold in Germany. Monday marked the fourth day in a row in which the country posted record incidences.

Since the first incidence of the variant was discovered in the country around seven weeks ago, Omicron has swiftly taken over as the dominant variant in Germany.

It currently accounts for around 73 percent of Covid infections and is expected to almost entirely replace the Delta variant this week. 

Though Omicron generally causes a less severe illness than Delta, experts are concerned that deaths and hospitalisations could remain high due to the unprecedented number of cases Germany could see.

Unlike Delta, Omicron has a large number of mutations that allow it to evade previously built up immunity through vaccinations and illness. 

The World Health Organisation has warned that half of all Europeans could be infected with the virus by spring. 

“After the temporary decline in case numbers, severe disease courses and deaths towards the end of 2021 in the fourth wave, the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has begun in Germany with the dominant circulation of the omicron variant,” the Robert Koch Institute wrote in its weekly report on Thursday.  

Since the first Omicron case was discovered in Germany, there have been 191,422 suspected or proven cases of the variant.

As Welt data journalist Olaf Gersemann pointed out in Twitter, the number of Omicron cases has increased sixfold within a fortnight. 

Increase in hospitalisations

Before this weekend, Germany had hit its previous peak of infections back in November, when the country posted a 7-day incidence of 485 per 100,000 people at during the peak of the fourth wave.

Since then, Covid measures such contact restrictions and blanket 2G (entry only for the vaccinated and recovered) or 2G-plus (vaccinated or recovered with a negative test) have been relatively effective at turning the tide. 

READ ALSO:

For the past few weeks however, infections have been on the up once again as the Omicron fifth wave begins.

The incidence of hospitalisations in the country appears to also be on the rise again after a few weeks of decline. On Friday, the 7-day incidence of hospitalisations stood at 3.24 per 100,000 people, up from 3.13 the day before.

Over the weekend, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warned that Omicron could place additional pressure on the general hospital wards as fewer people end up in intensive care. 

“Depending on how things develop, we may face shortages not only in the intensive care units, but also in the normal wards. There is a threat of entire departments being closed,” he said.

“Rapid spread of the virus would mean hundreds of thousands will become seriously ill and we will have to mourn many thousands of deaths again.” 

Karl Lauterbach

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) speaks at a weekly press conference on Friday, January 14th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld
 

Northern states post record incidences

Since the start of the Omicron wave, northern Germany has been disproportionately affected by the virus.

As of Monday, the city-state of Bremen had the highest incidence in the country, with 1389 new cases per 100,000 people recorded in a week.

This was followed by Berlin, which currently has a 7-day incidence of 948, and Hamburg, which recorded a 7-day incidence of 806. The district with the highest incidence in Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, which posted a weekly incidence of 1597 on Monday. 

In contrast to the fourth wave, the lowest Covid incidences were recorded in the eastern states of Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony. 

On Monday, Thuringia had a weekly incidence of 198 per 100,000 people, while Saxony’s incidence was 249 and Saxony-Anhalt’s was 280.

Somewhat inexplicably, the incidence has been declining in Thuringia in recent weeks, though there is speculation that this could be to do with the fact that Omicron has not yet spread in the state.

Nine of the sixteen German states have incidences of more than 500 per 100,000 people. 

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