Denmark to ease restrictions next week after coronavirus lockdown

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Denmark to ease restrictions next week after coronavirus lockdown

 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks during a news conference on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at her office in Copenhagen, Denmark, April 6, 2020. Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

 

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark plans to reopen day care centres and schools on April 15 as a first step to gradually relax a three-week lockdown to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the country's prime minister said on Monday.

 

The Nordic country, which was one of the first in Europe to shut down, has seen the number of coronavirus-related hospitalisations and deaths stabilise over the past week.

 

It is now trying to balance the need to keep its population safe and the economic risks of a deep recession, tough decisions that many other governments around the world have lying ahead of them.

 

"This will probably be a bit like walking the tightrope. If we stand still along the way we could fall and if we go too fast it can go wrong. Therefore, we must take one cautious step at a time," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a media briefing.

 

Denmark on March 11 announced closure of schools, day cares, restaurants, cafes and gyms, and shut all borders to most foreigners.

 

Frederiksen day care centres and schools for children in first to fifth grade will reopen on April 15, which will allow parents to return to a normal workday.

 

All remaining restrictions including a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people would stay in place until at least May 10, while a ban on larger gatherings would remain in place until August.

 

Frederiksen cautioned that the gradual reopening would only happen if the numbers stay stable and she urged all Danes to stick to the government's guidelines on social distancing and hygiene.

 

The number of daily deaths slowed to seven on Sunday from 14 on Saturday and 18 on Friday, while the number of hospitalisations has fallen slightly over the past week. Denmark has reported 187 coronavirus-related deaths and total of 4,681 infected.

 

"If we open Denmark too quickly again we risk that infections rise too sharply and then we have to close down again," Frederiksen said.

 

Denmark is the second country in Europe to provide dates and details on a gradual reopening of its coronavirus lockdown after Austria earlier on Monday said it was preparing for a "resurrection" the day after Easter by reopening some shops.

 

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-07

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[UbonThani]

Seems reasonable. Partial opening. Could be a role model for others.

[Dexlowe]

NZ is heading that way as well. In just over 5 weeks since the first recorded case of covid-19, there has been only 1 death and 1100-odd infections. Pretty impressive, though no one is being complacent. Our tourism sector, which is a big part of our GDP, has taken a severe blow, and no one knows whether it will recover to the extent it was before. But anyway, physical distancing does work best by the looks of things.

[bristolboy]

7 minutes ago, Dexlowe said:

NZ is heading that way as well. In just over 5 weeks since the first recorded case of covid-19, there has been only 1 death and 1100-odd infections. Pretty impressive, though no one is being complacent. Our tourism sector, which is a big part of our GDP, has taken a severe blow, and no one knows whether it will recover to the extent it was before. But anyway, physical distancing does work best by the looks of things.

It certainly slows and even reverses the spread in the short term. And helps keep hospitals from getting overwhelmed. But there is strong evidence that once controls are eased, the virus can make a resurgence. Singapore and Hong Kong have experienced that. So it's to be hoped that a highly effective therapy in the shorter term can be arrived at with an effective vaccine to follow.

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by bristolboy

[J Town]

Would you take a deadly chance like this with historic evidence of the likelihood of a resurgence happening?

[sungod]

2 hours ago, UbonThani said:

Seems reasonable. Partial opening. Could be a role model for others.

Yes, lets hope it works out well.

[bristolboy]

 

1 hour ago, Dexlowe said:

NZ is heading that way as well. In just over 5 weeks since the first recorded case of covid-19, there has been only 1 death and 1100-odd infections. Pretty impressive, though no one is being complacent. Our tourism sector, which is a big part of our GDP, has taken a severe blow, and no one knows whether it will recover to the extent it was before. But anyway, physical distancing does work best by the looks of things.

Actually a country like NZ could have an advantage. I suspect that in the future, if a highly effective vaccine  becomes widely available, would-be tourists and business travelers would have to have some kind of test to establish that they've been vaccinated. And possibly also be tested to see if the virus is active. Just as a double check on the vaccine. In that case, because NZ is an island, that shares no land borders, it would be seen as a safer destination.

[jollyhangmon]

 

... good job, I hear about the same timeline & tactics from Austria too.

 

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by jollyhangmon

[Iron Tongue]

Good for a small country to ease-up first, any mistake will be easier to mitigate and larger countries can observe and learn.

[RichardColeman]

Way i see the future is release quarantine, fill the hospitals, enforce another quarantine, repeat for 12 months or until vaccine. Governments should just be straight about it and people would understand. Herd immunity - if they do it - would be based I feel on that scenario