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Denmark extends ban on flights from UK due to Covid-19 mutation

Denmark's ban on incoming flights from the UK has been extended until midnight on Christmas Eve, the transport ministry has confirmed.

Published: 23 December 2020 11:33 CET

Denmark extends ban on flights from UK due to Covid-19 mutation

People at Heathrow Airport's departures hall on December 21st. Photo: Niklas Hallen/AFP/Ritzau Scanpix

All passenger flights from the United Kingdom to Denmark were temporarily suspended two days ago due to the discovery of a faster-spreading variant of Covid-19 in southeastern England.

The initial 48-hour ban has now been extended to midnight on December 24th, the Ministry of Transport and Housing said in a statement.

The decision was taken in order to “limit the risk of the spread of infection with a new mutation (of coronavirus)”, the ministry said.

“The government is following the situation closely. There is currently a lot of uncertainty about the new mutation and over the extent to which travellers from England over Christmas would comply with a recommendation to isolate for 10 days,” transport minister Benny Engelbrecht said.

“On that basis, it is the recommendation of health authorities that we maintain a flight ban and we are therefore extending the current ban by over one and a half days,” Engelbrecht added in the statement.

A travel ban applying to residents of the UK is to be issued by the Ministry of Justice and will take effect on 25th December the justice ministry has confirmed. British citizens and other people travelling from the UK who are resident in Denmark will be allowed to enter.

READ ALSO: Denmark to introduce UK travel ban but will allow residents to return

The new variant of the coronavirus is believed to have first appeared in the London and Kent areas of the UK in September, and is reported to be up to 70 percent more contagious than other strains. But based on what scientists know so far, the variant does not appear to cause more serious illness than other kinds of coronavirus.

The variant was cited by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the reason behind last-minute changes to health restrictions in London and South East England, announced on Saturday, which have seen thousands of people unable to travel as planned over Christmas.

France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Ireland have all also suspended flights.

READ ALSO: EU says blanket UK travel ban should end to allow people to return home

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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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