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Today in Denmark: A round-up of the latest news on Wednesday

Michael Barrett
Michael Barrett - [email protected]
Today in Denmark: A round-up of the latest news on Wednesday
Photo: Claus Bech/Ritzau Scanpix

Find out what's going on in Denmark today with The Local's short round-up of the news in less than five minutes.

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More snow on the way

The cold pinch of winter is being felt across the country these days, and large amounts of snow are forecast to fall on island Bornholm and the so-call ‘Triangle Region’ (Trekantsområdet) in southeastern Jutland and western Funen.

Met office DMI has issued blizzard warning for Bornholm and heavy snow warning for the latter area, and drivers on Bornholm have been asked to avoid non-essential journeys.

Submarine murderer Madsen given extended prison time for escape attempt

Peter Madsen, who is serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of a journalist aboard his homemade submarine, was yesterday sentenced to another 21 months behind bars for a brief jailbreak last year.

The Glostrup district court convicted Madsen of "escaping from the prison where he was being held and having threatened prison staff, police officers and a motorist," Danish police said in a statement reported by news wire AFP.

In October, Madsen managed to break out of the high-security Herstedvester prison where he had been held since being found guilty of the 2017 murder of 30-year-old Kim Wall of Sweden. He is now being held in another, undisclosed facility.

READ ALSO: Denmark tightens prison security after murderer's escape

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Danish CO2 emissions fell in 2019, but further reduction needed

Denmark’s total CO2 emissions in 2019 amounted to 46.7 million tonnes, a reduction of 5 million tonnes from the year before, according to a preliminary report to the EU and UN by Aarhus University.

A further 23 million tonnes must be cut from the annual emissions of the country is to achieve its stated climate target of a 70 percent reduction on 1990 levels by 2030, media Altinget writes.

Update on Covid-19 variants

Two new cases of coronavirus infection with the B1351 variant, which was first reported in South Africa, have been detected. That takes the total number of cases in Denmark of the more infectious form of Covid-19 up to 7.

Health minister Magnus Heunicke tweeted that the cases were detected as a “result of test including on arrival (in Denmark), contact tracing and genome sequencing. The infected and close contacts are in isolation,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, the more widespread B117 variant, first discovered in the UK, is – currently – at a stable level of spread, according to broadcaster DR.

The reproduction rate or R-number of the variant is currently 0.99, departmental chief Tyra Grove Krause of the State Serum Institute confirmed.

“The number is under 1 and that suggests that restrictions can keep B117 in check, and that we have a more intensive contact tracing around B117,” Krause told DR.

The R-number for the variant has fallen from 1.14 last week.

“But even though the reproduction rate has fallen a little, I think this can change over time. I want to see it at 1 or under 1 for several weeks before I breathe more easily,” Krause said.

 

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