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Denmark to close all remaining Covid-19 test centres by end of March

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Denmark to close all remaining Covid-19 test centres by end of March
Covid-19 test centres, a feature of daily life in 2020 and 2021, will disappear from Denmark altogether by the end of March. File photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

Health authorities in Denmark have decided that all regions will close any remaining Covid-19 test centres by the end of March.

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The decision, confirmed by the South Denmark regional authority in a statement on Friday, reflects the limited demand for Covid-19 testing just under three years since the pandemic broke out in Denmark.

Closure of the remaining test centres does not mean it will no longer be possible to be tested for the coronavirus.

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Instead, PCR tests will be offered at GP surgeries or hospitals if considered necessary by doctors. If there is no medical indication for a test, members of the public will be advised to use a self-administered lateral flow test.

Region South Denmark said that it would close its remaining centres in Odense, Svendborg, Vejle, Kolding, Aabenraa, Sønderborg, Esbjerg and on the island of Ærø on an ongoing basis by March 31st.

“It is good that Covid-19 is relatively minor in our society now, three years after the first Danes were infected with the disease,” the Region’s director Kurt Espersen said in the statement.

“National authorities have concluded that the response to corona now goes into a new phase,” he said.

“That means that public PCR testing is phased out by March 31st and that we can therefore close the regional test provisions that began in April 2020,” he said.

The closure of the state-funded test centres means regional health authorities will no longer receive money from the government to cover the operating costs of the testing facilities.

Some 67 million PCR tests have been administered at Danish Covid-19 test centres since they first appeared in April 2020, including 3.4 million positive tests according to national data.

Privately-operated antibody or “quick” test centres were phased out and closed last year, after giving around 61 million tests.

READ ALSO: Covid-19: Denmark decides against additional booster this winter

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