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Today in Denmark For Members

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Michael Barrett
Michael Barrett - [email protected]
Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday
MALMÖ 2021-12-27 Kö på Öresundsbron när polisen kontrollerar vaccinationsbevis och identitetshandlingar på resenärer på väg in i Sverige på måndagen. Foto: Johan Nilsson / TT / Kod 50090. (Foto: 50090 Johan Nilsson/TT/Ritzau Scanpix)

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

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Denmark has world’s highest Covid-19 infection rate

Denmark yesterday again reported record daily coronavirus cases as the Omicron variant continues to make its mark on the data, having become the dominant form of the virus in the country.

The daily infection total yesterday exceeded 15,000 for the first time, with health authorities registering 16,164 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours.

With its population of 5.8 million, Denmark now has the world's highest infection rate with 1,612 cases per 100,000 people.

The five countries with the highest case rates over the last seven days were all European, according to statistics compiled by news wire AFP and drawn from official sources.

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Authorities urge more vaccinations for children

With schools scheduled to return from the Christmas holidays next week, health authorities have encouraged as many children as possible to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Denmark vaccinates children aged 5 years and over against the coronavirus, in accordance with EMA recommendations.

The national infectious disease agency State Serum Institute (SSI) has called for children in the 5-11-year age group in particular to be vaccinated, broadcaster DR writes. More vaccinations will improve the chances of schools remaining open throughout the winter, the authority said.

Data from the agency shows that 38.5 percent of 5-11-year-olds have received their first dose of the vaccine.

Sweden’s new travel restrictions come into force

As of today, many foreign travellers need to show a negative Covid test to be allowed to enter Sweden, regardless of whether or not they are fully vaccinated and regardless of which country they’re travelling from – non-EU, EU or any of the Nordic countries.

The test must have been carried out 48 hours before arriving in Sweden and the original test result document must be written in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English or French.

Swedish citizens and foreign residents who can prove they live in Sweden are still among the categories of travellers who are exempt from showing a negative test. But note that a separate recommendation to get tested after arriving in Sweden still applies to everyone, regardless of whether or not they had to show a test result on the border.

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300,000 invitations for booster jabs will be sent this week

Invitations to book a booster vaccination are to be sent to around 300,000 people this week, the Danish Health Authority said in a statement.

Boosters were last week brought forward to four and a half months after the original vaccination for 18-39-year-olds, in line with all other adult age groups.

“The third jab is crucial for putting a dampener on the trend (of high infections), and another very big group of Danes will this week be invited to receive their third dose,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said in the statement. All residents of Denmark are included in the country’s vaccination programme, not just Danish nationals as referred to by the minister.

Normally, invitations are sent via the national secure digital mail system, accessible via the Eboks.dk and borger.dk platforms.

Covid-19 vaccinations including booster jabs are normally booked in Denmark via the vacciner.dk platform. The website is available in English and requires users to log in using the secure NemID digital signature.

White Christmas weather gives way to rain and clouds 

Cold winter weather which gave much of Denmark fitting wintry scenes in time for Christmas is to be replaced in coming days by warmer, wetter weather, according to forecasts.

Rain, mist and fog are expected on Tuesday and temperatures will be between freezing and 4 degrees Celsius.

Motorists are advised that roads may still be icy in patches.

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