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COVID-19 STATS

Danish Covid-19 new cases total hits record levels again

An additional 28,780 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were registered in Denmark’s daily update on Monday.

Denmark registered over 28,000 new Covid-19 cases on January 17th for the second time during the pandemic.
Denmark registered over 28,000 new Covid-19 cases on January 17th for the second time during the pandemic. File photo: Helle Arensbak/Ritzau Scanpix

The number, from national agency State Serum Institute, is the highest so far recorded in Denmark during the pandemic. It exceeds the previous record of 28,283 set on January 5th and comes following a short-lived dip in new cases around the second weekend of the month.

A total of 170,095 PCR tests were taken, meaning the positivity rate for the 24-hour period was 16.9 percent. That is also higher than any other time during January.

The total number of people in hospital with Covid-19 increased by 68 to 802, the highest so far this winter. The figure can include people in hospital for other reasons than Covid-19 but who have tested positive for the virus. The total for hospitalised patients tends to skew upwards generally on Mondays due to fewer discharges during weekends.

The number of hospitalised patients is, however, relatively stable following an increase beginning in late autumn towards Christmas and may signal that Denmark is currently at the peak for hospitalisations under the current wave, an expert said.

“If this follows the mathematical laws of epidemics, it means that when the increase is not entirely apparent over a period of weeks, then we are, here in the middle of January, at the top of this (current) wave,” Henrik Nielsen, professor and senior medical consultant at Aalborg University Hospital’s infectious diseases department, told news wire Ritzau.

“We can then wait for it to begin to decline. My bid would be that it begins to fall within January and the coming weeks will gradually see fewer hospitalisations heading towards the spring,” Nielsen said.

Of the 802 persons in hospital with a positive Covid test on Monday, 52 are being treated at ICU wards with 37 on ventilators. That represents a reduction in the number of ICU patients compared to Friday last week.

57.1 percent of the population has received a Covid-19 booster vaccine.

READ ALSO: The Covid-19 restrictions now in effect in Denmark

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COVID-19 STATS

Covid-19: Danish authorities ’not concerned’ after new subvariant detected

A new subvariant of Covid-19 has been detected in Denmark. Health authorities say they are monitoring the situation.

Covid-19: Danish authorities ’not concerned’ after new subvariant detected

The new variant was first detected in India around three months ago and has now been detected in Denmark for the first time with two confirmed cases, news wire Ritzau reports.

Health Minister Magnus Heunicke confirmed the variant had been found in Denmark in a Twitter post on Saturday.

The variant, BJ.1, is a subvariant of the existing Omicron form of the coronavirus and was first registered in India on July 2nd. It has since been detected in four other countries.

“Two cases of the new Covid-19 subvariant BJ.1 have been found in Denmark,” Heunicke wrote.

“It is completely expected that BJ.1 would appear in Denmark and the State Serum Institute [national infectious disease control agency, ed.] is not currently concerned but is following the situation closely,” he said.

It is currently unclear whether BJ.1, also termed BA.2.10.1, can be expected to cause more serious symptoms than the current dominant form of Omicron.

“BJ.1 has more mutations to the spike protein than subvariants of the dominant BA.5, but the importance of these mutations is not known for certain,” Heunicke wrote.

The most recent infection trends report, issued last week by the State Serum Institute, stated that infection numbers in people aged 60 and over had increased during the preceding week. Infection numbers have been otherwise stable in all age groups in recent weeks.

Denmark currently only recommends a PCR test for Covid-19 for people at risk of serious illness who suspect they have the virus.

Last week’s infection trends report noted that BJ.1 was yet to be detected in Denmark.

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