Denmark warned as Covid-19 cases see weekly increase
An increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has been registered in Denmark.
The country’s minister for health, Magnus Heunicke, said that there is no evidence of a major outbreak but has advised the public to remember “good habits” to keep infection numbers low.
READ ALSO: These are Denmark's current coronavirus guidelines for the public
The week commencing July 13th saw 240 new cases of Covid-19 registered in Denmark, compared to 169 and 123 in the two preceding weeks.
Heunicke encouraged the public to maintain hygiene precautions in a message posted on Facebook, but also said the virus remained “under control” in the country.
“Maybe it has gone so well that we’ve not started to slack a little on the good habits that well keep the virus down. That must not happen. We must in no way put everything at risk now,” he the minister wrote.
He encouraged the public to maintain distance, disinfect hands, cough and sneeze into the elbow bend, avoid hugging and shaking hands and to remember general good hygiene.
But the “good habits” referred to by Heunicke still do not include mandatory wearing of masks in places such as shops, unlike in many other European countries.
After almost a week in Germany and Italy, where mask wearing indoors is the norm, it beggars belief that Denmark is so behind on implementing this simple and effective strategy. https://t.co/2h86UsC7qS
— Peter Stanners (@peterstanners) July 23, 2020
READ ALSO: Could face masks become compulsory in Denmark?
Despite the concerning nature of the weekly data, Heunicke said it was not evidence of a “major outbreak”.
“That is good news, because we are extremely alert about not letting that kind of thing happen,” he wrote.
“The Danish Patient Safety Authority is responsible for tracing active infections and they report that there are no persistent, out-of-control infection chains. Further, the total number of newly-hospitalised is still stable at a low level,” he added.
Tuesday and Wednesday this week saw 48 and 40 new coronavirus cases registered according to data from national infectious disease centre SSI.
“There has been a trend for over one week of the numbers being a little higher than at the start of July,” Aarhus University global health expert and consultant in infectious disease Christian Wejse told Ritzau on Wednesday.
The trend could not easily be explained by more comprehensive testing, Wejse said.
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The country’s minister for health, Magnus Heunicke, said that there is no evidence of a major outbreak but has advised the public to remember “good habits” to keep infection numbers low.
READ ALSO: These are Denmark's current coronavirus guidelines for the public
The week commencing July 13th saw 240 new cases of Covid-19 registered in Denmark, compared to 169 and 123 in the two preceding weeks.
Heunicke encouraged the public to maintain hygiene precautions in a message posted on Facebook, but also said the virus remained “under control” in the country.
“Maybe it has gone so well that we’ve not started to slack a little on the good habits that well keep the virus down. That must not happen. We must in no way put everything at risk now,” he the minister wrote.
He encouraged the public to maintain distance, disinfect hands, cough and sneeze into the elbow bend, avoid hugging and shaking hands and to remember general good hygiene.
But the “good habits” referred to by Heunicke still do not include mandatory wearing of masks in places such as shops, unlike in many other European countries.
After almost a week in Germany and Italy, where mask wearing indoors is the norm, it beggars belief that Denmark is so behind on implementing this simple and effective strategy. https://t.co/2h86UsC7qS
— Peter Stanners (@peterstanners) July 23, 2020
READ ALSO: Could face masks become compulsory in Denmark?
Despite the concerning nature of the weekly data, Heunicke said it was not evidence of a “major outbreak”.
“That is good news, because we are extremely alert about not letting that kind of thing happen,” he wrote.
“The Danish Patient Safety Authority is responsible for tracing active infections and they report that there are no persistent, out-of-control infection chains. Further, the total number of newly-hospitalised is still stable at a low level,” he added.
Tuesday and Wednesday this week saw 48 and 40 new coronavirus cases registered according to data from national infectious disease centre SSI.
“There has been a trend for over one week of the numbers being a little higher than at the start of July,” Aarhus University global health expert and consultant in infectious disease Christian Wejse told Ritzau on Wednesday.
The trend could not easily be explained by more comprehensive testing, Wejse said.
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