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COVID-19 RULES

Why Danish government is considering more scope for epidemic restrictions

The Danish government must currently receive the backing of parliament before implementing major interventions in response to a public health threat such as the Covid-19 pandemic. But an evaluation by two ministries suggests they favour more flexibility on the area.

Face masks are no longer required in Denmark
Face masks are no longer required in Denmark, but an evaluation by two ministries proposes that some public health restrictions could be more easily implemented in future. photo: Ólafur Steinar Rye Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix

Under current laws, parliament must vote to approve the categorisation of a disease as a ‘critical threat’ to society (samfundskritisk).

Only when a disease or an epidemic has been categorised in this way by parliament can all  of the interventions available to the government under the epidemic law be brought into play.

In other words, the government must face parliamentary checks and controls before implementing restrictions.

Those interventions range from the most invasive, such as lockdowns and assembly limits, to less invasive, but still significant, measures such as face mask mandates and health pass requirements like those seen with the coronapas (Covid-19 health pass) during the Covid-19 pandemic.

READ ALSO: Denmark decommissions country’s Covid-19 health pass

The Ministry of Health now wants to change the existing structure within the Epidemic Law, newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported on Monday.

In an evaluation, the ministry proposes a change to the rules such that requirements for things like face masks and the coronapas can be introduced for diseases that are not only in the ‘critical threat’ category, but also for those rated an almen farlig sygdom, ‘dangerous to public health’.

This would put some of the restrictions in the lower category which is not subject to parliamentary control.

The evaluation was sent by the health and justice ministries to parliament in October but has escaped wider attention until now, Jyllands-Posten writes.

In its evaluation of the epidemic law, the Justice Ministry states that there is a “large jump” between the small pool of restrictions that can be introduced against ‘dangerous to public health diseases’ and the major societal interventions the government – with parliamentary backing – can use once a disease is classed as a ‘critical threat’.

“This jump does not quite seem to correspond with the actual demand for potential restrictions against diseases dangerous to public health, which can spread while not being critical to society,” the ministry writes.

The health ministry said in the evaluation the “consideration” should be made as to whether less invasive measures should continue to pass through parliament, as is the case under the current rules.

The national organisation for municipalities, KL, has told parliament that it backs the thinking of the ministries over the issue but that parliamentary control must be retained.

The Danish Council on Ethics (Det Etiske Råd) told Jyllands-Posten that it was “very sceptical” regarding the recommendation.

“The council therefore points out that a slippery slope could result if the restrictions, interventions and options that can be brought into use with diseases that present a critical threat to society, can also be used with dangerous diseases like normal influenza,” the council said.

The minority government’s allied political parties all stated scepticism towards the proposal, in comments reported by Jyllands-Posten.

In a written comment, the health ministry told the newspaper that Health Minister Magnus Heunicke would discuss committee stage responses with the other partied before deciding on “the need for initiatives”.

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COVID-19 RULES

Danish court hands out hefty fine to beauty salon owners for Covid-19 breach

The city court in Roskilde on Friday fined the owners of a beauty clinic in the town 200,000 kroner each for repeatedly opening their business during Covid-19 lockdown.

Danish court hands out hefty fine to beauty salon owners for Covid-19 breach

The court’s decision was confirmed by Central and West Jutland police in a statement.

Prosecutor Camilla Kragh said that the prosecution service had hoped for the owners of the clinic to submit a guilty plea.

“But the defendants would not fully admit the charges and they wanted a jury trial instead. So there have been many procedural steps that have contributed to the fact that the case has only just come to an end,” she said in the statement.

The couple are joint owners of the beauty clinic Cliuniq in the town, located around 30 minutes outside of Copenhagen.

Police visited the clinic and found it to be open on 18 occasions during a period when this was prohibited under Covid-19 restrictions.

“These are large fines and they show the seriousness of the matter in relation to the situation society was in at the time,” Kragh said in the statement.

The court has found them guilty of the charges raised by the prosecution, which also stated that they undertook hair removal treatments at the clinic without proper registration with the Danish Patient Safety Authority (Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed).

The clinic owners are reported to be considering an appeal against the decision.

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