Covid-19: Denmark lifts final restrictions; disease no longer classified as “socially critical”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Coronavirus will no longer be classified as a “socially critical” disease in Denmark from next month, something the country had already said in September. However, restrictions were then re-implemented over the winter.

Denmark has announced that it will remove almost all Covid-19 restrictions, as it no longer considers the virus to be a “socially critical disease,” precisely the same thing it said before implementing these latest restrictions that will now be lifted.

“Tonight, we can shrug our shoulders and find the smile again. We have excellent news; we can now lift the last coronavirus restrictions in Denmark,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Wednesday, revealing that most restrictions will be lifted on February 1.

The only measure that will remain in place, for the time being, is the requirement to take a Covid-19 test before entering the country from abroad.

Frederiksen noted that while it “may seem strange and paradoxical” that the restrictions are being lifted when Denmark is experiencing its highest ‘infection rates’ to date, she pointed to the drop in the number of patients in intensive care and credited widespread vaccination against Covid-19 as breaking the link between the number of hospitalizations and the number of infections.

Health Minister Magnus Heunicke announced Tuesday that Covid-19 would no longer be considered a “socially critical disease” as of February 1.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Denmark has recorded 3,635 Covid-positive deaths since the start of the pandemic among a population of nearly 6 million people.