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Covid-19: Danish infections remain at high level despite third day under 4,000

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Covid-19: Danish infections remain at high level despite third day under 4,000
Telephone sick leave is back for positive Covid-19 cases in Austria. Photo by Stephane Mahe / Reuters.

A total of 3,711 new Covid-19 infections were registered in Denmark on Monday, the third day in a row the figure has been below 4,000.

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Thursday and Friday last week both saw over 4,000 new infections recorded in the country and were the two days with the highest number of new infections in 2021.

The total of 3,711 set down on Monday came from 133,782 PCR tests, giving a test positivity rate of 2.77.

Saturday’s total of 3,795 new infections came from 189,557 PCR tests, while Sunday’s figure, 3,415, came from 143,762 PCR tests. That gives positivity rates of 2 percent and 2.38 percent respectively.

Infections with Covid-19 in Denmark could continue to increase but perhaps only in the short term, according to Hans Jørn Kolmos, professor in clinical microbiology at the University of Southern Denmark.

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“There is a lot of virus in circulation, and infections will probably continue to increase for a while yet because it will take some time before we see the effects of the coronapas [Covid-19 health pass, ed.],” Kolmos said.

READ ALSO: Denmark reinstates coronapas at restaurants, bars and events

The professor argued that current infection levels do not justify new restrictions. That is because the infections are not evenly distributed across the country, with cities seeing the highest number of cases, he said.

“We should not begin to introduce national restrictions now. But the increasing infections should be taken seriously,” he said.

“We are now looking towards the Christmas month where we usually have Christmas parties and are generally mostly indoors. Therefore, we should be extra careful,” he said.

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READ ALSO: Could Danish companies cancel Christmas parties?

Christmas parties do not necessarily have to be cancelled provided the correct precautions are kept in mind during festivities, Kolmos said.

“We should remember to air rooms, not sit to closely together, be mindful not to sing and shout too much and remember to use hand sanitizer,” he said.

“Maybe Christmas parties will be a little different this year but there is nothing to say we shouldn’t have them if the infections situation doesn’t greatly change,” he added.

The number of hospitalised patients with Covid-19 increased significantly during the weekend. It is now 438 having stood at 378 on Friday. It should be noted that discharges are generally lower at weekends due to hospital staffing.

Early January this year saw Denmark reach its highest number of patients admitted to hospitals with Covid-19 when the figures exceeded 900.

“The most concerning thing (about admissions numbers) is that the number of hospitalisations is still increasing and we therefore risk the health system soon being forced to prioritise in what they do. We’re not there yet, but things could go the wrong way,” Kolmos said.

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