Foreign ministry advises against all travel to the UK
The Danish foreign ministry is now advising against all travel to the United Kingdom in an effort to reduce a mutated, faster-spreading variant of Covid-19.
Additionally, all flight passengers from the UK must now provide documentation of a negative Covid-19 test less than 24 hours old before travelling to Denmark.
All foreign nationals who live in the UK (including British citizens) are still banned from entering Denmark, a continuation of rules introduced in December. Brits who reside in Denmark and Danes who live in the UK are allowed to travel if they show a negative test at the time of travel, as outlined above.
We’ll have full detail of this in a separate article today.
Contagious variant spreading in Denmark
The more contagious variant of Covid-19 first reported in the United Kingdom is spreading rapidly in Denmark, reports newspaper Dagbladet Information – which has gone with the terms “English virus variant” and “English corona mutation” in its headline and article.
National infectious disease agency State Serum Institute (SSI) issued on Saturday a status report on the spread in Denmark of the variant, which has the technical name of cluster B.1.1.7.
The variant has been detected in 86 cases of Covid-19 infection in Denmark, but the actual number may be as much as ten times greater.
The proportion of genetically sequenced Covid-19 test samples in which B.1.1.7 was detected increased to 2.3 percent of all sequenced tests in the last week of 2020, according to SSI.
86 cases of B.1.1.7 identified in Denmark since November (11% of all cases sequenced in the period). Last 4 weeks we have sequenced 1500-2000 genomes pr. week broadly representing DK. The percentage of B.1.1.7 has been 0.2, 0.5, 0.9, and 2.3 (week 52). https://t.co/NtZklQOVPs
— Mads Albertsen (@MadsAlbertsen85) January 2, 2021
“It looks like there is actual societal spread (of the variant) in Denmark rather than isolated travel-related cases,” professor and researcher in virus infections and epidemics Thea Kølsen Fischer told Information.
Back to school, but staying at home
The end of the Christmas holidays means that Denmark’s schoolchildren return to classes today. They will attend from home under the rules of the country’s now-extended national lockdown.
The situation is likely to be particularly challenging for families with young children who must combine working from home with facilitating their kids’ learning.
National broadcaster DR has a report today on how parents, children and teachers are facing up to the prospect of a new spell of home learning, and its potential longer-term consequences.
“Our motivation at school is relatively low at the moment,” the head of the Danish association for headteachers Claus Hjordal said to DR.
In April 2020, Denmark was the first country in Europe to re-open its schools after locking down due to Covid-19.
Politicians to discuss vaccine at meeting
Health spokespersons from the parliamentary parties are scheduled to meet with health minister Magnus Heunicke today to discuss topics including vaccination against Covid-19 and the more contagious variant which has spread in the UK, according to DR.
The exact agenda for the meeting is unclear, as is the government’s thinking with regard to potential new measures against the virus, the broadcaster reports.
Source: thelocal.dk
