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COVID-19

Denmark registers second day with over 20,000 new Covid-19 cases

The last day saw 21,403 new cases of Covid-19 recorded by Denmark’s national infectious disease agency.

Published: 30 December 2021 16:30 CET
High Covid-19 infection rates are casting a shadow over the end of 2021 in Denmark. People queue for testing in Copenhagen on December 16th.
High Covid-19 infection rates are casting a shadow over the end of 2021 in Denmark. People queue for testing in Copenhagen on December 16th. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

The agency, State Serum Institute (SSI) released the updated figures on Thursday afternoon.

Thursday’s figure is the second-highest recorded during the pandemic in Denmark behind the 23,228 recorded 24 hours earlier.

The 21,403 positive results came from 205,153 PCR tests, giving a positivity rate of 10.43 percent. The rate is considerably higher than earlier in the pandemic but roughly in line with and slightly lower than data from the first three days of this week, when it has been between 12 and 13 percent.

High demand means that authorities are currently giving priority for PCR tests to people with symptoms of the virus or who are close contacts to confirmed cases.

A total of 665 people are now in hospital with the coronavirus, 10 fewer than on Wednesday. 178 were admitted during the last day but admissions were outweighed by discharges.

The figure for hospital patients with Covid-19 can include patients in hospital for unrelated reasons who have tested positive for the virus during their stay. These patients still require additional resources due to isolation protocols. SSI said on Thursday that it would from January separate the total for patients in hospital for treatment due to Covid-19.

High discharge numbers are an encouraging sign that patients in hospital with Covid-19 are admitted for shorter periods than in earlier phases of the pandemic, an analyst suggested.

“In the same period last year we had around 4,500 infections per day, which resulted in 900 admitted patients [at the peak, ed.],” Eskild Petersen, professor of infectious diseases at Aarhus University, told news wire Ritzau.

“If you compare today’s admission numbers to the same period last year, it’s clear that we no longer get so ill from the corona virus. That is naturally also thanks to the vaccines,” Petersen said.

The professor also noted that some data suggest the Omicron variant, now dominant in Denmark, does not cause as severe disease as earlier variants.

Around 80 percent of positive tests in Denmark are currently caused by the variant.

READ ALSO: How will Danish New Year’s Eve be different – and the same – in 2021?

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COVID-19

Who should get vaccinated against Covid and flu in Denmark and when?

It is still free to get a Covid-19 vaccine in Denmark if you are over the age of 65 or have a health condition, with the health authorities now running Covid and flu vaccinations together. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 26 October 2023 11:10 CEST
Who should get vaccinated against Covid and flu in Denmark and when?

Who is being offered a vaccine for Covid-19 or flu this autumn? 

According to the information on the Danish Health Authority’s website, Covid-19 and flu vaccines are being offered to: 

  • People over the age of 65
  • People under the age of 65 who have a health condition which puts them at increased risk. You can find a list of the long-term health conditions deemed a risk here. 
  • Pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimester

Children between 2 and 6 years of age are being offered a special flu vaccine for children, which is administered as a nose spray, but not the Covid vaccine (unless they fit one of the categories above). 

Those who have retired early, for whatever reason, are also being offered the flu vaccine but not a Covid-19 vaccine.  

People over the age of 65 and the parents of children between the ages of 2 and 6 will automatically receive an invitation to get vaccinated though their digital postbox at borger.dk, e-Boks and mit.dk.

People in the other eligible categories will not receive an invitation. 

If you have not yet received an invitation, do not worry, as invitations are being staggered over October and the start of November.  

READ ALSO: 

When and where can I get vaccinated? 

This year’s autumn vaccination campaign started on October 1st and will continue until January 15th. 

You can get vaccinated at one of over 50 regional vaccination sites all over Denmark, or at the over 280 local pharmacies which are signed up to be part of the programme. 

Residents of care homes for the elderly and others in need will be offered vaccinated at their home.

You can log in and book an appointment at your nearest centre or pharmacy at Denmark’s official vaccination website www.vacciner.dk.

Is it possible to get vaccinated against both flu and Covid-19 at the same time? 

The Danish Health Authority has judged that it is safe to receive vaccines against both flu and Covid-19 at the same time, but the two vaccines cannot be mixed in the same syringe, so you will receive two separate injections. 

Is vaccination compulsory? 

No. Although the strongly recommends everyone in the various risk categories to get vaccinated, it is up to every individual whether to do so. 

Is it possible to get vaccinated even if I am not over 65 or in a risk group? 

It is no longer possible to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or flu through Denmark’s national vaccination programme if you are not in one of the recommended categories, after the country’s health authorities stopped offering paid vaccinations.  

But it remains possible to get vaccinated at a private vaccination centre, such as the SikkerRejse chain found in most Danish towns. The chain, which has a waiting list, offers doses of the latest Comirnaty Omicron XBB.1.5 vaccine for a total price of 995 kroner. 

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