Country: Denmark
Continent: Scandinavia, Northern Europe
Governing Party:++ Social Democrats
Political affiliation: Left I guess
Main crisis leaders:++ Mette Frederiksen (Prime Minister), Queen Margrethe II
Status of country: Kingdom
Cases (at time of lockdown:* 674
Deaths (at time of lockdown) 1
Cases (at time of writing):** 2,519,057
Deaths (at time of writing): 4,250
Date of first lockdown: March 12
Duration: 33 days
Number of lockdowns (to date): 2
Reaction level+++: 90
Vaccine uptake (at time of writing): 82%
Score:*** 95
When Covid first popped its ugly head into our world, and we began to learn about - and later to fear - it, the initial contacts were always from China, where the whole thing had kicked off. But as you read above in its entry, China was pretty soon superseded by Italy as the go-to place for infections, and so anyone coming from there was liable to carry the virus on its travels. Such was the case for Denmark, where the first two cases came, not only from Italy but from Lombardy, the very first major hot-spot in terms of the virus. Denmark might have been somewhat isolated, being up there in the far north and kind of removed from the rest of Europe, but once one of its citizens decided “You know what? I fancy a skiing holiday. Wonder where I’ll go? Oh, Italy looks nice!” they were screwed. Dragged down into the morass with the rest of us, Denmark recorded its first case pretty early, at the end of February. A third case resulted from a conference held in Germany, and Denmark was well on its way.
Iran had also by now become quite the place to go if you yearned for Covid in your life, and so it came to pass that the country’s tenth case in all (seven more from Italy had already been found) had been to the Islamic Republic, and as March got going the Danish authorities were not that bothered, only ensuring anyone infected (ten up to now, as I said) self-isolated at home. Of course it wouldn’t stay that way, and twelve days into the new month the country would be on lockdown. Prior to that though, they must have thought there was hope, as their “Patient Zero” recovered fully. Meanwhile, Danish - and, by association, Dutch - sport began to be affected, as a player for one of the national teams was infected, leading to his teammates and those in the teams that had played them recently having to quarantine. Ajax (pronounced eye-yax) from Holland had been involved, so also had to isolate. As the country entered lockdown on March 12, whether she wished to evoke a “blitz mentality” or whether she really believed this to be the worst crisis her country had faced since then, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen invoked the words used by her predecessor at the onset of World War II, calling for samfundssind, or a sense of community spirit, to get the country through this difficult time.
Like most countries, the level and speed of escalation was frightening. From a “mere” 53 cases on March 9 the figure had jumped to a massive 674 in just three days as the country entered lockdown. On this same day, Thomas Kahlenberg, the footballer who had originally tested positive, recovered, but on the other side of the scales, Denmark registered what could have been its first death. I say could have, because the man in question did exhibit symptoms, and died of a heart attack, but the link between the two could not be proven. He might have had his heart attack and died anyway. He was eighty when he died, and had had a history of heart problems. Another man died in similar circumstances on March 14, almost the same age.
Denmark, like most of its neighbours, recognised the vulnerability of the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions to the virus, and so grandparents were asked to stay away from their grandchildren, and as we all had to do, they self isolated. Schools were closed (I’m sure, like here, the hurrahs soon faded as the kids realised they couldn’t go outside to play) and the order to work from home where possible was instated. A sight soon to be familiar to us all, large and then smaller gatherings of people were banned, shops, restaurants and night clubs were closed, leaving only essential outlets such as groceries and pharmacies open, and sporting events were cancelled. On March 14 Denmark closed its borders, and only commercial vehicles delivering vital supplies were allowed on the roads, along with a few other specific exceptions, such as people returning home to Denmark, which any Dane abroad was advised/instructed to do without delay.
This seems odd to me. I suppose nobody wanted to trap or hold anyone in the country, but the government allowed any non-Dane to leave, and at this point their country had over 600 cases. True, there had not been many deaths, but still, you’re talking about letting someone leave a country which has infections, potentially allowing them to spread the virus to wherever they lived, which might at that time have been a Covid-free zone. Just seems a little irresponsible to me, but then, many countries would of course put their own interests first as the pandemic grew and spread across the world, and everyone looked to their own safety. The idea, too, of Danes being allowed to come home? Did they check where they were coming from? Was it likely they were returning from Italy, Iran, Spain? China? Was anyone tested on re-entering the country?
I don’t have those answers.
Look, we were all learning about this damned virus, and it’s not fair to, nor will I, place the blame for poor information or guidance on one health authority in one country - the CDC kept changing tack, and so did the WHO, and these are two biggest health authorities on the planet, so what chance had Demark got? Nevertheless, they did get it wrong, they said on April 10, when they agreed with the general consensus around the world that asymptomatic cases (those not showing any symptoms at first) could also transmit the virus, where before they had said there was no danger from this. In effect, this led to workers continuing in jobs - particularly in nursing homes and medical facilities - who turned out to be positive but originally asymptomatic, with the resultant transmission of the virus to those they came in contact with.
And then, there was that touch of mink.
We all read about how mink on a farm in Jutland were found to be infected by a mutated form of the virus, and had already transmitted the new variant to humans, so the mink were culled. Rich women everyone must have gasped in shock, as no doubt did animal rights groups. A new lockdown was instigated for Jutland, beginning November 6, the national one having been lifted April 13. On Christmas Day Denmark would enter its second lockdown, which would last three months into the new year, however this year they became the first country, not only in Europe but in the world to suspend their vaccination programme, so they must now be doing all right.