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COVID-19 STATS

Denmark breaks all-time Covid-19 record with over 5,000 new cases

An additional 5,120 positive Covid-19 tests were registered in Denmark in the latest daily total, a record for the country's coronavirus epidemic by some distance.

Published: 1 December 2021 16:39 CET
Christmas decorations at a Danish Covid-19 vaccination centre.
Christmas decorations at a Danish Covid-19 vaccination centre. Photo: Ólafur Steinar Rye Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix

The figure, published by agency State Serum Institute (SSI), is some way higher than the previous record of 4,508 cases set on December 18th, 2020.

Late November saw daily case totals hover around 4,000 and approach 4,500 on several occasions without exceeding it.

But Wednesday’s high number comes one day after Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said there were signs the current wave of infections was “becoming stable”.

READ ALSO: Covid-19: Data suggests Danish epidemic ‘becoming stable’

The figures reported on Wednesday are surprising, according to Kasper Karmark Iversen, senior medical consultant and professor at the University of Copenhagen and Herlev-Gentofte Hospital.

“It has otherwise been stable for some time so it’s surprising to suddenly get such an increase,” Iversen told news wire Ritzau.

“But I don’t think too much should be taken from it. It could be an outlier before we go back to the normal level tomorrow,” he said.

The 5,120 new cases come from 195,137 PCR tests, giving positivity rate of 2.62 percent.

Compared with Tuesday’s numbers, the raw figure is much higher – 4,148 cases were reported on Tuesday. But the positivity rate is comparable, having stood at 2.58 yesterday.

Hospitalised patients with Covid-19 in Denmark now number 439, an increase of six compared to Tuesday.

The strain on hospitals can be felt, despite this number being lower than the peak hospitalisation figures from the winter 2020 wave, which exceeded 900.

“There are not catastrophic conditions yet but we have a combination of an tangible lack of nurses combined with this strain. It is clearly putting pressure on hospitals,” he said.

A further two cases of the new Omicron variant were meanwhile confirmed on Wednesday. The variant has now been detected six times in Denmark since it was first identified and reported to the international community by South Africa at the end of last week.

Five of the six cases have been traced to travel to South Africa, and one case traced to travel from Qatar.

Three further suspected cases have been found not to be Omicron, and 11 more await results of genome sequencing.

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COVID-19 STATS

Denmark’s Covid-19 hospitalisation figure ‘could reach 750’ in December

The number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 in Denmark could increase to 750 this month, according to a projection from an official expert group.

Published: 3 December 2021 16:02 CET
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and senior health officials visit a vaccination centre at Copenhagen Central Station on December 3rd.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and senior health officials visit a vaccination centre at Copenhagen Central Station on December 3rd. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

The expert group for mathematical modelling, which is attached to the national infectious disease agency State Serum Institute (SSI), released the estimate on Friday.

As of Friday afternoon, 449 patients with Covid-19 are admitted to hospitals in Denmark. The figure has been increasing in recent weeks but is still some way short of the peak hospitalisation figures from the winter 2020 wave, which exceeded 900.

“There are not catastrophic conditions yet but we have a combination of a tangible lack of nurses combined with this strain (of high patient numbers). It is clearly putting pressure on hospitals,” Kasper Karmark Iversen, senior medical consultant and professor at the University of Copenhagen and Herlev-Gentofte Hospital, told news wire Ritzau earlier this week.

The mathematical expert group calculates possible scenarios in which coronavirus restrictions could be phased out.

“The projections show a continued increase in the number of hospitalisations,” said the head of the group, Camilla Holten Møller.

“New hospitalisations of 70-200 per day and 550-750 in hospital (in total) are estimated up to the middle of December,” Møller said.

The figure for new hospitalisations does not account for discharged patients and therefore does not reflect the overall change in the total number of patients in hospital with Covid-19.

The expert group also predicts between 3,400 and 8,300 new cases of the virus daily by the middle of December. The group notes that its projections do not take into account the vaccination drive launched by the government this week. They also only partly account for anti-infection measures already in place, such as Covid-19 health pass (coronapas) requirements and face mask rules.

A total of 4,559 new Covid-19 cases were reported in SSI’s daily update on Friday. The total comes from 196,932 PCR tests, giving a positivity rate of 2.32 percent.

Daily cases have now been over 4,000 for six consecutive days. Friday’s positivity rate is a little lower than the typical rate seen this week, which is closer to 2.50.

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