‘The virus may have trapped itself in a corner’

The whole world is now tracking what is happening in our western neighbour.

Denmark is seen as an indicator of what will happen in other countries as well, Troels Liebeck, head of the Danish infection control body, Statens Serum Institute, tells DN.

What has happened is that the omikron variant has withdrawn at full speed and there are now far more people infected in the country than at any time during the pandemic.

This has led to new restrictions. The most recent of them came into use last weekend and meant, among other things, the closure of cinemas, game halls, zoos and museums.

Currently, stricter rules also apply in restaurants and on serving alcoholic beverages where alcohol may not be sold after 10pm, and mouth protection is mandatory on public transport and elsewhere.

Long term advantage

The country is therefore under severe pressure due to the variant that, according to several studies, is spreading much faster than the previous variants of covid-19. Violent spread can be positive from a long-term perspective, says Jens Lundgren, professor of infectious diseases at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.

– It might be really bad at the moment, but it might be an advantage in the long run, tell TV2.

It is believed that COVID-19 may have put itself in a corner with the omicron variable.

– In the future, the virus may not be able to create new variants that can compete with omikron.

During the Christmas holidays, satisfactory reports were received from Danish hospitals. The number of people hospitalized did not increase the incidence of infection.

For now, there are some indications that the pressure on health care will not be as severe as feared.

– We were afraid to see numbers on the number of inpatients that were on par with January last year when it was at its highest, but we haven’t seen that yet. Hopefully this means that the omicron variant has a milder course of the disease, says Kasper Iversen, MD, professor of emergency medicine at Herlev Hospital.

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New restrictions in Sweden – but stricter on neighbours