Denmark Announces Christmas Lockdown As Coronavirus Cases Spike

Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen has announced a nationwide Christmas lockdown to try and deal with record rates of coronavirus cases. Speaking on a day that the country set a new daily record for positive tests, Frediksen called the situation “very serious.”The State Serum Institute (SSI) announced on December 16 that 3,692 positive tests for Covid-19 were registered in the previous 24 hours. The number of hospitalizations increased by 54 to a new high of 493, putting almost half of Denmark’s Covid-19 hospital beds into use. 961 people have died so far. The country will be in “full lockdown” from December 25 and will stay in place until January 3. All shops aside from supermarkets and pharmacies will close during the lockdown period.“We have now reached risk level 4 across the country, which is the second highest level. That means the authorities estimate that infection is widespread nationwide,” said Frederiksen. Other measures will be introduced sooner. Shopping malls and large department stores will be closed from Thursday, while all schools for younger children will be closed from December 21. Older children are already subject to a remote learning requirement. Businesses involving close contact such as leisure facilities, hairdressers and physiotherapists must also close from December 21. As in other Scandinavian countries, Danes typically celebrate Christmas with a main meal on December 24. Frederiksen confirmed the guidance for Christmas Eve will not be changed. This means Danes can gather in private homes in groups of no more than ten, as long as social distancing can be implemented. However, Frederiksen encouraged Danes to keep their gatherings as small as possible. She also confirmed that there are no plans to introduce travel restrictions within Denmark. Specific recommendations for New Year’s Eve are to be announced at the beginning of next week. However, as the day falls within the newly-announced lockdown period, no loosening of restrictions is expected.


All data is taken from the source: http://forbes.com
Article Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2020/12/16/denmark-announces-christmas-lockdown-as-coronavirus-cases-spike/


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