Denmark is ‘very unlikely’ to be hit by second wave of coronavirus

Denmark is ‘very unlikely’ to be hit by second wave of coronavirus as infection rate continues to DROP after relaxing its lockdown

  • Despite reopening, the country’s infection rate (R-value) dropped by 0.2 points 
  • Denmark was the first country in Europe to relax its coronavirus lockdown
  • ‘Denmark is well on its way,’ PM Mette Frederiksen said during a briefing
  • Greater tracking will be used to ensure that a second wave does not happen
  • The country of 5.8 million will also raise its testing above 20,000 tests per day 
  • Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

Denmark is ‘very unlikely’ to be hit by a second wave of coronavirus, the country’s chief epidemiologist said today, after the government laid out plans for increased testing and a contact tracing system.

Despite reopening some public spaces, Denmark’s reproduction rate (R-value), which shows the average number of infections one person with the virus causes, fell to 0.7 in the first week of May, down from 0.9. 

The Nordic country of 5.8 million people, which has seen 533 coronavirus deaths, was the first in Europe to relax its lockdown almost a month ago. The infection rate and daily number of deaths have continued to drop.

Pictured: Customers enter the Field’s shopping centre in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 11. Denmark was one of the first countries to relax its coronavirus lockdown measures, almost a month ago

‘No country has seen an actual second wave yet. Some countries have seen the spread go up and down,’ state epidemiologist Kare Molbak said at a news briefing.

‘But with the knowledge we have today, I find it very unlikely that we’ll see second wave,’ he said.

Fears that a second wave of infections could thwart the reopening of the global economy were triggered on Monday after Germany, relatively successful in slowing the outbreak, reported that infections had accelerated again after the first tentative steps to ease its lockdown.

Denmark this week began a second phase of relaxing its lockdown which will include reopening of restaurants and shopping malls. 

As part of a broader plan to prevent a second wave of the coronavirus, the government said it would further increase test capacity currently at 20,000 tests per day.

‘Denmark is well on its way,’ Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at the briefing.

‘From testing relatively few initially, we are now one of the countries in the world with most tests per inhabitant,’ she said.

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (pictured) spoke to the media after the party leaders had agreed on the next phase of reopening, saying that 'Denmark is well on its way'

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (pictured) spoke to the media after the party leaders had agreed on the next phase of reopening, saying that ‘Denmark is well on its way’

To prevent a second wave, health authorities will begin more actively tracking people who may have been in contact with infected people and if necessary put some in isolation in empty hotels, she said.

‘We need to isolate the sick, so we can break the infection chains without having to close down society again,’ she said.

Early in the outbreak, Denmark shied away from a comprehensive testing and tracing scheme, partly due to a shortage of testing kits, despite calls from the World Health Organisation to ramp up testing. 

As of May 11, Denmark has seen 10,711 cases of the coronavirus and a relatively low 533 related deaths.

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