A total of 15 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Denmark, while the country has placed 212 people in quarantine at their homes.
The latest figures were updated by the Danish Patient Safety Authority (Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed, DPSA) on Thursday morning. The figure includes one case on the Faroe Islands, the first in the self-governing territory.
The agency is in the process of tracing people who may have been in close contact with the new cases, the agency said via a statement on its website.
All four new cases have been placed in home quarantine.
No further information has been released as to the age, gender or place of residence of the individuals.
Denmark confirmed its first case of coronavirus one week ago. All cases in the country have so far been traced to travel abroad, the majority of these to northern Italy.
The Danish foreign ministry has updated its travel advice and now advises against all unnecessary travel to the four active outbreak regions in northern Italy: Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto.
The ministry also advises against unnecessary travel to mainland China; the province of Gyeongbuk and the city of Daegu in South Korea; and all of Iran. All travel to Hubei province in China is advised against, regardless of the reason for the trip.
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DPSA said it expects further cases to be confirmed in the coming days, including instances of infection between people in Denmark.
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The Danish government has introduced a number of measures aimed at hindering and limiting the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
As such, the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) is asking anyone who has travelled to outbreak areas (as listed above) to stay at home. The advice applies to anyone who returned home after March 2nd.
In a measure aimed at protecting the country’s sick and elderly from exposure to the virus, all healthcare workers in the country who have travelled to outbreak areas within in the last 14 days will now be required to remain at home.
The list of areas encompassed by the Danish rules will be reviewed and, if necessary, updated on an ongoing basis. You can check the current list via the Danish Health Authority website.
If you are concerned you might have symptoms and have recently travelled to a risk area, you should NOT go straight to your doctor or hospital in person. You can read more about symptoms in our paywall-free information article.
Health authorities are worried about potentially infected people turning up at hospitals and passing on the virus.
Therefore, you should always start by contacting your doctor by telephone. Remember to state that you have been in the area of infection, if this is the case.
Source: thelocal.dk
