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CORONAPAS

Denmark decommissions country’s Covid-19 health pass

The coronapas, Denmark’s Covid-19 health pass used to document vaccination, test or infection history status, has been deactivated for use in the country because there are no longer any rules requiring its use.

coronapas
The Danish version of the Covid-19 health pass has been removed from the country's coronapas app. Photo: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix

The EU health pass section of the app can still be used for travel to countries that still have vaccination or other Covid-19 health pass rules, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Wednesday.

Restrictions requiring the coronapas in Denmark were mostly removed in February, though recommendations for it had remained in place at hospitals and in the care sector.

These local recommendations have now been lifted based on recommendations by the government’s Epidemic Commission advisory board, the ministry said in the statement.

This means no recommendations or requirements for use of the coronapas are now in place anywhere in Denmark.

The coronapas app will continue to work, but users will see a message when logging in stating that it only needs to be used in relation to international travel, and that the Danish format of the health pass has been removed.

A prompt then directs users to the international version of the pass.

A screenshot from the coronapas app telling users the Danish version of the Covid-19 health pass has been removed.

The international Covid-19 health pass also remains accessible on the sundhed.dk website and Minsundhed app.

“The coronapas app has, since May 2021, been a crucial tool which has helped to reduce the risk of infection at gatherings and in situations where it would otherwise be high,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said in the statement.

“The coronapas has been a precondition us safely being able to keep society as open as possible,” he said.

Authorities will be able to reactivate the Danish part of the coronapas at short notice should its use be deemed necessary again in future.

Although the coronapas will no longer be used in health and care situations, guidelines on Covid-19 testing for staff and wearing PPE in these settings are still in use.

The Smittestop contact tracing app was also recently taken out of commission in Denmark.

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HEALTH

Coronapas: Denmark’s Covid-19 health pass is no more after two years

The Coronapas, the Covid-19 health pass used in Denmark to document vaccination, test or infection history status during the pandemic, will be fully deactivated over two years since its introduction.

Coronapas: Denmark’s Covid-19 health pass is no more after two years

The Coronapas will be shut down at the end of June and can no longer be used to view vaccination history, health authorities said in a statement.

That is because Covid-19 travel certificates expire in the EU on June 30th and EU rules have not been extended to provide legal basis for an EU Covid travel pass.

The health pass was last year deactivated for use in Denmark after all Danish Covid restrictions ended, but was retained for EU travel and certification purposes.

The word “coronapas” entered the Danish dictionary after the digital certificate was introduced in May 2021 and was voted word of the year in 2021, but is now defunct.

While the EU Covid health pass provisions are about to end, the World Health Organization’s European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region.

The global health body announced on May 5th that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency”, however.

READ ALSO: Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The digital health certificate no longer exists on the Coronapas app or in the MinSundhed app, which is an extension of the sundhed.dk health platform.

But a record of all vaccinations and the vaccinations of your children can still be accessed through Sundhed.dk, the health portal said.

A coronapas was displayed some 31.6 million times on the MinSundhed app alone between October 2021 and the end of 2022, according to the statement.

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