Covid-19: Omicron variant now dominant in Denmark as infections record broken again
Tuesday saw another new record for daily new cases of Covid-19 in Denmark as health authorities said the Omicron variant is now dominant in the country.
A total of 13,558 new cases of the virus were registered by national agency State Serum Institute (SSI), the highest figure throughout the pandemic.
Denmark has repeatedly broken its recorded for daily new cases since the beginning of December.
“SSI’s assessment is that Omicron is already the dominant variant and still spreading,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke wrote on Twitter.
According to SSI, 501 of the new infections occurred in people who have previously had Covid-19. The criteria for this is that they tested positive for the virus at least 60 days ago.
The 13,558 new cases were found from 243,077 tests, giving a positivity rate of 5.58 percent.
#Omicron update from Denmark. I'm stopping to report the daily increase of #Omicron in Denmark. It has been dominant from the 16th of December, but the test systems can not keep up anymore. See yesterday's tweet. https://t.co/mct71uqPeG
— Mads Albertsen (@MadsAlbertsen85) December 21, 2021
The reproduction rate or R-number of the virus is now 1.2, indicating a growing epidemic, Heunicke also tweeted.
An R-number over 1.0 reflects a growth in the pandemic because it means 10 people with the virus will infect at least another 11. The value is an estimate and comprises a lag of around 10 days.
The number of hospitalised patients with the virus is now 554, 27 fewer than Monday’s figure. This may be related to discharges which are often high on Monday and lower on weekends.
New restrictions were introduced on Sunday in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. These include closures of parts of the leisure and entertainment sectors, widened face mask requirements and capacity limits in stores and on long distance public transport.
READ ALSO: Denmark changes Covid-19 isolation rules for close contacts
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A total of 13,558 new cases of the virus were registered by national agency State Serum Institute (SSI), the highest figure throughout the pandemic.
Denmark has repeatedly broken its recorded for daily new cases since the beginning of December.
“SSI’s assessment is that Omicron is already the dominant variant and still spreading,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke wrote on Twitter.
According to SSI, 501 of the new infections occurred in people who have previously had Covid-19. The criteria for this is that they tested positive for the virus at least 60 days ago.
The 13,558 new cases were found from 243,077 tests, giving a positivity rate of 5.58 percent.
#Omicron update from Denmark. I'm stopping to report the daily increase of #Omicron in Denmark. It has been dominant from the 16th of December, but the test systems can not keep up anymore. See yesterday's tweet. https://t.co/mct71uqPeG
— Mads Albertsen (@MadsAlbertsen85) December 21, 2021
The reproduction rate or R-number of the virus is now 1.2, indicating a growing epidemic, Heunicke also tweeted.
An R-number over 1.0 reflects a growth in the pandemic because it means 10 people with the virus will infect at least another 11. The value is an estimate and comprises a lag of around 10 days.
The number of hospitalised patients with the virus is now 554, 27 fewer than Monday’s figure. This may be related to discharges which are often high on Monday and lower on weekends.
New restrictions were introduced on Sunday in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. These include closures of parts of the leisure and entertainment sectors, widened face mask requirements and capacity limits in stores and on long distance public transport.
READ ALSO: Denmark changes Covid-19 isolation rules for close contacts
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