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COVID-19 RULES

Government advisors say Denmark can end Covid-19 restrictions on February 1st

The Epidemic Commission, which advises the government on management of the Covid-19 pandemic, has issued new recommendations in relation to whether restrictions should continue. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is expected to make an announcement on Wednesday.

Denmark could scrap rules requiring face masks in stores and on public transport, along with other Covid-19 restrictions, at the end of January.
Denmark could scrap rules requiring face masks in stores and on public transport, along with other Covid-19 restrictions, at the end of January. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The Commission said it recommends the end of current Covid-19 restrictions on January 31st, but that entry test and isolation rules for travel to Denmark are extended. Face mask use at hospitals and in elderly care should continue, it also said.

Travel rules should be based on the model used until rules were tightened in late December, the Commission said.

Should the recommendations of the Commission be followed, Covid-19 will also cease being categorised as a critical threat to society.

The classification, currently scheduled to expire on January 5th, is important because it impacts the ability of the government to introduce restrictions aimed at curbing spread of the virus.

Frederiksen is expected to make an announcement at a briefing on Wednesday.

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Current Covid-19 restrictions include requirements to wear a face mask on public transport, in stores and a list of other public settings; and the use of the Covid-19 health pass, the coronapas, at restaurants, cafes, gyms and long-distance rail and bus services amongst other settings.

In its recommendations issued late on Tuesday, the Commission stated that Denmark is now in a “new epidemic situation where high and increasing transmissions do not transfer to admissions to hospitals to the same extent as before”.

While daily infection totals have continued to grow in recent weeks, the number of patients in hospital with Covid-19 has not increased by a corresponding amount and the number of patients admitted to ICUs has begun to decline.

An additional 46,950 new cases of the virus were registered on Tuesday with hospital patients with Covid-19 up to 918. This includes 222 people admitted to psychiatric wards who have Covid-19 but it is not the cause of their admission.

44 patients at Danish hospitals are under intensive care treatment for Covid-19, with 28 of them receiving ventilator treatment.

“The decline in admissions is probably due to the effect of booster vaccination as well as the lesser ability of Omicron to elicit serious illness,” the Commission stated in its recommendations.

Although it no longer believes Covid-19 should be classed a critical threat to society, some measures to limit transmission are still beneficial, it said.

As such, large indoor events could be asked to use the coronapas and social distancing measures, and workplaces could take precautions to protect staff once home working ends, it said.

In general, the advisory board advocated a switch in focus from requirements and rules to recommendations.

A final decision on changes to restrictions is taken by the government, which must get approval from a majority in parliament before implementing changes.

The Epidemic Commission gives both medical and economic advice to the government regarding its ongoing management of the pandemic.

Its members include representatives from all the various health authorities as well as the National Police. Senior civil servants from various ministries are also present.

The government and parliament generally broadly follow the recommendations made by the Commission.

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COVID-19 RULES

Denmark gives mink farmer suspended sentence for illegal breeding

A mink breeder located in West Jutland has been handed a fine and suspended prison sentence for keeping the animals while a national ban on the trade was in place.

Denmark gives mink farmer suspended sentence for illegal breeding

The breeder was prosecuted for continuing to breed minks while a ban against the trade was in place due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The breeder, based in West Jutland village Thyholm, was found to have 126 minks at his farm during an inspection in December 2021.

The conditional prison sentence, given after a ruling at the Holstebro Court, includes a community service requirement. The company with which the farmer is director must pay a fine of 100,000 kroner.

Denmark banned mink breeding in late 2020 over concerns about potential Covid variants that could emerge from the farms. The ban was lifted at the end of last year.

During the trial, the farmer claimed the animals weren’t his, and that he was looking after them for someone else.

“It was minks I looked after for others. They [the owners, ed.] came by and checked them,” he is reported to have said.

Private ownership of up to five minks was permitted while the ban on fur breeding was in place.

During the inspection, the Danish Veterinary and Food Agency (Fødevarestyrelsen) found the animals being kept “in farm-like conditions” with feed and medicines also discovered at the address.

A vet from the agency said during the trial that he was in no doubt that breeding was at play.

“They were kept in cages that millions of other minks were kept in. The cages were fastened with plastic strips so there was nothing to suggest this was pets,” he said.

The agency culled all 126 minks during the inspection, in line with Denmark’s Covid-19 controls at the time.

The farmer is reported to be considering an appeal against the decision.

READ ALSO: Half of Denmark’s mink breeders did not take Covid-19 tests despite requests

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