1 February end of COVID-19 as a critical illness, the society opens again

Danish Government announced the end of all restrictions, end of facemasks, corona pas and opening of the Danish society at press meeting today.

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A very happy Danish Prime Minister, backed by her team from the different Danish Health Departments, announced the end of the restrictions and measures in place in Denmark.

COVID-19 is no longer categorised as a critical illness and therefore it is no longer valid to retain measures related to an epidemic.

However, all those present at the meeting emphasised that it does not mean that the risk of getting infected is over.

The peak of the epidemic is not quite reached yet; the main reason for the many restrictions was to protect the Danish Health sector, and the present evidence shows that the high number of infected does not at the same correlate with a high number of hospitalised in intensive care units.

As the Danish Government had promised that the restrictions would only be in placeas long as  necessary, this claim is no longer valid.

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The date 1 February has been chosen as it allows a few days more of containment of spread, also the restrictions were to end of 31 January and therefore the date 1 February 2022 has been selected, the Danish Prime Minister said when questioned at the press meeting about why not just open as of tomorrow 27 January.

A of 1 February, the Danish society will be completely open and all restrictions  will be abolished

The restrictions are eased because of the good control with the situation, 94 percent of Danes above the age of 65 have received their booster shot and 90 percent of those above the age of 50 have as well, another important fact is that Omikron gives a milder illness than the previous variants.

These were important reasons for the end of restrictions.

This means no corona pass, no facemask, opening of all the society.

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In some areas facemasks and corona pass may be maintained as the Government is still conscious of protecting the vulnerable and there will be recommendations for continued use of facemasks and corona pass at elderly care centres, hospitals etc.

Also, as announced,  the mandatory testing prior to arrival in Denmark for non-resident foreigners is most likely maintained for 4 weeks, the precise wording of this mandatory requirement is being negotiated and will be announced later this week. It could be that it is only applied to those who are not vaccinated or who have not been infected previously.

Self-tests and PCR tests will still be recommended, and for those with symptoms staying at home and taking a PCR test is still recommended. The reason is the wish to  continue to limit spread when possible but also to keep track of the development of any new coronavirus variant.

Important to stress, those present at the press meeting said, is that infections will rise with the end of restrictions, Omikron is still present in the society, however, the effect of vaccination and a high number of immunity due to previous infected means that less will be critically ill and in need of hospitalisation.

The next weeks will still mean a high number of staff and employees on sick leave, and the recommendation is still to test and isolate with symptoms of illness.

The Danish Health Minister recommended to take a test if visiting anyone who is more vulnerable, such as fragile elderly family members and anyone with an immune deficiency.

The testing strategy with PCR tests will be maintained at present, but the capacity of daily tests has already been adjusted to the new situation.

Your Danish Life will continue to monitor information related to corona virus and we will update an article with information about the ongoing mandatory testing for entry to Denmark for non-resident foreigners once it has been decided whether this is maintained for a further 4 weeks.