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COVID-19 STATS

Covid-19: One third of Danish PCR tests positive with daily total back at 50,000

The proportion of positive Covid-19 tests in Denmark reached a record level on Tuesday with almost one third of PCR tests detecting the coronavirus.

People wait for Covid-19 testing in Denmark in December.
People wait for Covid-19 testing in Denmark in December. A high proportion of PCR tests are currently returning positive results. photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

49,798 new cases of the virus were registered on Tuesday with 156,693 tests taken.

That gives a test positivity rate of just under 32 percent, which is the highest seen in Denmark during the pandemic according to broadcaster DR.

The figure of just under 50,000 is at the higher end of the range for daily totals recorded this month, which had fallen to below 40,000 in recent days.

The number of positive cases in circulation may be higher than the PCR test results indicate, however.

According to national infectious disease agency State Serum Institute (SSI), only around half of all cases in recent months have actually been detected by PCR testing. That may be in part because many people do not develop symptoms and therefore do not seek a test, according to the agency’s assessment.

The country last week ended almost all Covid-19 restrictions, reducing the demand for a negative Covid-19 test for a valid coronapas (Covid-19 health pass).

The number of patients at Danish hospitals who have Covid-19 is also higher than it has ever been before. The total on Tuesday was 1,315 people. However the number of hospital patients who are being treated for Covid-19 is considerably lower, because the figure also includes patients who are in hospital for other reasons but who have also tested positive for the virus.

39 people in Denmark are currently being treated for Covid-19 in intensive care units, with 15 receiving ventilator assistance. Those numbers have approximately halved since the beginning of 2022.

READ ALSO: Has Denmark’s Covid-19 infection curve peaked in Copenhagen region?

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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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