Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday
Massive fees for builder of Odense hospital, senior police office suspended after Christmas party, and St. Lucia procession brightens up Nyhavn harbour. Here’s the news from Denmark on Thursday.
Hospital construction company to be hit with huge fines
The contractor responsible for building the new Odense University Hospital, OUH, is to be hit with massive daily fines from Monday next week, the South Denmark regional health authority said in a statement.
Sanctions of some 960,000 kroner per day will be sent to the company because it has not met construction targets set out in its contract with Region South Denmark.
“When we made the most recent agreement last year, we were convinced that the constructor had been put on the leash it needed. But now that’s not happened it’s logical for us to take hold of the option of using daily fines,” the elected head of the health authority’s construction section, Karsten Uno Petersen, told news wire Ritzau.
Fines of this nature are standard practice in construction when a project overruns. The hospital was scheduled to be finished by the end of next year, but progress has been far slower than initially set out.
Vocabulary: dagbøder – daily fines
Police officer suspended over behaviour at Christmas party
A senior police officer with Central and West Jutland Police has been suspended as a result of inappropriate behaviour at a staff Christmas party, local newspaper Viborg Stifts Folkeblad reports.
The officer has been asked not to report for duty due to “internal circumstances”, the police district told the newspaper in an email.
Citing several anonymous sources, Viborg Stifts Folkeblad reports that the officer in question sexually harassed several colleagues at the seasonal event. The police said the issue would be further investigated, giving no further detail, and the officer in question chose not to comment.
Vocabulary: hjemsendt – suspended (from work), literally “sent home”
Copenhagen Harbour illuminated by candle-carrying St Lucia kayaks
The Scandinavian Christmas custom of St- Lucia does not traditionally involve kayaks, but the sight of them lighting up Copenhagen Harbour has become a December highlight in the Danish capital.
The kayak procession took to the waters yesterday evening including at photogenic Nyhavn, where crowds gathered to enjoy the show.
A spectator told broadcaster DR that the procession was particularly special at the “iconic” Nyhaven.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How Denmark celebrates Saint Lucia Day
Vocabulary: optog – procession
Wave of respiratory infections expected to continue through Christmas
Respiratory infections are spreading as the winter progresses, new health authority figures show.
A weekly update from the national infectious disease control agency, State Serum Institute (SSI), released yesterday, shows an upward trend in cases of the two illnesses as well as other respiratory conditions including RS virus, whooping cough and atypical pneumonia.
The surge in respiratory illnesses is expected by SSI to continue through the Christmas period.
SSI advises members of the public to stay at home from work or school if they experience symptoms of respiratory infections like colds, flu or Covid-19. They should not return until back to full health.
“Remember good hand hygiene, cough or sneeze into your arm and get vaccinated if you are in a risk group,” medical consultant and head of department at SSI, Bolette Søborg said.
Vocabulary: luftvejsinfektion – respiratory infection
Comments
See Also
Hospital construction company to be hit with huge fines
The contractor responsible for building the new Odense University Hospital, OUH, is to be hit with massive daily fines from Monday next week, the South Denmark regional health authority said in a statement.
Sanctions of some 960,000 kroner per day will be sent to the company because it has not met construction targets set out in its contract with Region South Denmark.
“When we made the most recent agreement last year, we were convinced that the constructor had been put on the leash it needed. But now that’s not happened it’s logical for us to take hold of the option of using daily fines,” the elected head of the health authority’s construction section, Karsten Uno Petersen, told news wire Ritzau.
Fines of this nature are standard practice in construction when a project overruns. The hospital was scheduled to be finished by the end of next year, but progress has been far slower than initially set out.
Vocabulary: dagbøder – daily fines
Police officer suspended over behaviour at Christmas party
A senior police officer with Central and West Jutland Police has been suspended as a result of inappropriate behaviour at a staff Christmas party, local newspaper Viborg Stifts Folkeblad reports.
The officer has been asked not to report for duty due to “internal circumstances”, the police district told the newspaper in an email.
Citing several anonymous sources, Viborg Stifts Folkeblad reports that the officer in question sexually harassed several colleagues at the seasonal event. The police said the issue would be further investigated, giving no further detail, and the officer in question chose not to comment.
Vocabulary: hjemsendt – suspended (from work), literally “sent home”
Copenhagen Harbour illuminated by candle-carrying St Lucia kayaks
The Scandinavian Christmas custom of St- Lucia does not traditionally involve kayaks, but the sight of them lighting up Copenhagen Harbour has become a December highlight in the Danish capital.
The kayak procession took to the waters yesterday evening including at photogenic Nyhavn, where crowds gathered to enjoy the show.
A spectator told broadcaster DR that the procession was particularly special at the “iconic” Nyhaven.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How Denmark celebrates Saint Lucia Day
Vocabulary: optog – procession
Wave of respiratory infections expected to continue through Christmas
Respiratory infections are spreading as the winter progresses, new health authority figures show.
A weekly update from the national infectious disease control agency, State Serum Institute (SSI), released yesterday, shows an upward trend in cases of the two illnesses as well as other respiratory conditions including RS virus, whooping cough and atypical pneumonia.
The surge in respiratory illnesses is expected by SSI to continue through the Christmas period.
SSI advises members of the public to stay at home from work or school if they experience symptoms of respiratory infections like colds, flu or Covid-19. They should not return until back to full health.
“Remember good hand hygiene, cough or sneeze into your arm and get vaccinated if you are in a risk group,” medical consultant and head of department at SSI, Bolette Søborg said.
Vocabulary: luftvejsinfektion – respiratory infection
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.