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Today in Denmark: A round-up of the latest news on Thursday

Michael Barrett
Michael Barrett - [email protected]
Today in Denmark: A round-up of the latest news on Thursday
The Roskilde Festival's famous Orange Stage in 2019. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Find out what's going on in Denmark today with The Local's short round-up of the news in less than five minutes.

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Possible ‘bottleneck’ in coronavirus testing

An increasing demand for Covid-19 testing for asymptomatic people could put pressure on Denmark’s testing system, Jyllands-Posten reports this morning.

With more people wanting a test for peace of mind prior to Christmas, some professors are warning of a “bottleneck” in the system, the newspaper writes. Experts have stressed the importance of prompt testing for people more likely to be infected, in order to keep the epidemic under control.

Earlier this week, the government announced it was ramping up testing – and capacity – in the Copenhagen region in an effort to mass-test younger people.

Justice minister faces questions in hearing over mink order

Another day, another parliamentary hearing for the government, which is under pressure from all sides for issuing an illegal directive to cull all of Denmark’s fur farm minks.

The order was given in response to concerns that a mutation of coronavirus in the animals could threaten a future Covid-19 vaccine. The mutation is now considered to be ‘most likely eradicated’.

Justice minister Nick Hækkerup will today face questions from parliamentary colleagues, which can be expected to include justice spokespersons from the other parties. This is after it emerged that police enforced the illegal directive, even though the National Police leadership was aware the government order had no legal basis.

READ ALSO: Danish PM apologises for handling of mink crisis during far farm visit

Feriepenge: remaining 'frozen' holiday money to be released

People who work in Denmark will be able to claim the remainder of ‘frozen' holiday money by Easter 2021, after the government announced a new economic stimulus package yesterday.

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‘Holiday money' or feriepenge is a monthly contribution paid out of your salary into a special fund, depending on how much you earn.

This means that, if you worked in Denmark during the relevant period and have a ‘frozen' amount of feriepenge from a five-week overlapping period of accrual, you will be able to claim the remainder in the spring. The first part of the money was made claimable earlier in the year.

You can read more about who is eligible to claim the money – and how the claims process worked during the first round – in our explainer article from September.

READ ALSO: Feriepenge: Danish government to release remaining 'frozen' holiday money

Roskilde Festival adds names to 2021 line-up

Scandinavia’s largest music festival was, like everything else, cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus. But Roskilde Festival organisers are pushing ahead with their plans for 2021, despite the lack of certainty about how the situation with the virus will look next summer.

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In an announcement published Thursday, the festival confirmed acts including The Strokes, HAIM, Faith No More, Phoebe Bridgers and Deftones for 2021.

Roskilde Festival is attended by up to 130,000 people in normal years, making it temporarily the fourth-largest city in Denmark for its week-long duration.

Airline SAS reports gigantic loss

Scandinavian airline SAS says it has registered the biggest loss in the company's history, due to a loss of trade resulting from the coronavirus.

The company's results from November 2019 to October 2020 show a loss of 9.3 billion Swedish kronor, compared to a profit of 0.6 billion kronor in the preceding year.

More on that here.

Danish vocabulary:

  • Kvartal: (financial) quarter
  • Underskud: (trading) loss
  • Regnskab: accounts, accounting

 

 

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