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UK extends virus travel ban on Denmark for 14 days

Britain has extended its travel ban on Denmark to stop the spread of coronavirus for a further 14 days, the UK government announced on Thursday.

Published: 13 November 2020 10:45 CET

UK extends virus travel ban on Denmark for 14 days

File photo: Neil Hall/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

The strict measures were first announced by the UK on November 7th in response to the threat from a mutated version of Covid-19 found in humans and linked to mink farms.

“Following advice from the Chief Medical Officer, the travel ban introduced on 7th November 2020 on Denmark will also be extended for a further 14 days,” the transport ministry said.

“British Nationals, visa holders and permanent residents returning to the UK directly or indirectly from Denmark will need to self-isolate along with all other members of their household for 14 days from the date they were last in Denmark.”

Last week, Denmark announced the Covid-19 mutation had jumped from mink to humans and infected 12 people in the country's north.

It has warned it could threaten the effectiveness of any future vaccine against coronavirus and ordered the culling of all of the country's roughly 17 million mink.

READ ALSO: Danish government under increasing pressure over illegal mink directive

Earlier on Thursday, top US government scientist Anthony Fauci said Denmark was right to take precautions.

The mutation could affect monoclonal antibodies used to treat severe Covid cases, he told the Chatham House international affairs think-tank via video-link.

But he said research by his team showed “it doesn't appear at this point that the mutation that's been identified in the mink is going to have an impact on the vaccines”.

READ ALSO: Danish mink coronavirus data 'do not support' fears over reduced vaccine effects

The new regulations come into force on Saturday from 5am Danish time.

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IN NUMBERS: Has the Omicron Covid-19 wave peaked in Denmark?

Graffiti in the Copenhagen hippy enclave of Christiania complaining of Omicron's impact on Christmas. Photo: Philip Davali/Scanpix

How many cases, hospitalisations and deaths are there in Denmark?

Denmark registered 12,588 new cases in the 24 hours leading up to 2pm on Saturday, down from the 18,261 registered on in the day leading up to Friday at 2pm, which was itself a decline from the record 28,283 cases recorded on Wednesday.

The cases were identified by a total of 174,517 PCR tests, bringing the positive percentage to 7.21 percent, down from the sky high rates of close to 12 percent seen in the first few days of January.

The number of cases over the past seven days is lower than the week before in almost every municipality in Denmark, with only Vallensbæk, Aarhus, Holseterbro, Skanderborg, Hjørring, Vordingborg, Ringkøbing, Kolding, Assens, Horsens, Thisted, and Langeland reporting rises.

Hospitalisations have also started to fall, with some 730 patients being treated for Covid-10 on Saturday, down from 755 on Friday. On Tuesday, 794 were being treated for Covid-19 in Danish hospitals, the highest number since the peak of the 2020-21 winter wave.

The only marker which has not yet started to fall is the number of deaths, which tends to trail infections and hospitalisations.

In the 24 hours leading up to 2pm on Saturday, Denmark registered 28 deaths with Covid-19, the highest daily number recorded since 20 January 2021, when 29 people died with Covid-19 (although Denmark’s deadliest day was the 19 January 2021, when 39 people died).

How does Denmark compare to other countries in Europe?

Over the last seven days, Denmark has had the highest Covid-19 case rate of any country in Europe bar Ireland. The number of new infections in the country has climbed steadily since the start of December, apart from a brief fall over Christmas.

So does this mean the omicron wave has peaked?

Maybe, although experts are not sure.

“Of course, you can hope for that, but I’m not sure that is the case,” said Christian Wejse, head of the Department for Infectious Diseases at Aarhus University Hospital. “I think it is too early to conclude that the epidemic has peaked.”

He said that patients with the Omicron variant were being discharged more rapidly on average than had been the case with those who had the more dangerous Delta variant.

“Many admissions are relatively short-lived, thankfully. This is because many do not become that il, and are largely hospitalized because they are suffering with something else. And if they are stable and do not need oxygen, then they are quickly discharged again.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said during a visit to an event held by the Social Liberal party that the latest numbers made her even more optimistic about the coming month.

“We have lower infection numbers and the number of hospitalisations is also plateauing,” she said. “I think we’re going to get through this winter pretty well, even if it will be a difficult time for a lot of people, and we are beginning to see the spring ahead of us, so I’m actually very optimistic.”

She said that she had been encouraged by the fact that Omicron was a “visibly less dangerous variant if it is not allowed to explode.”

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