Monday Morning News & Notes
Denmark takes another big step back to ‘normal’
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A number of COVID restrictions in Denmark were lifted on August 1, per the deal reached by a majority of political parties back on June 10.
The assembly ban has now been abolished entirely.
For restaurants, social distancing requirements for spacing tables apart is eased to two meters squared. For all shops and businesses, social distancing requirements, which were based on the square footage of the business, are now gone. Instead, the mandate has been unified to two meters squared for all, regardless of size.
The requirement to show a coronapas is removed for events with fewer than 2,000 spectators, as well as movie theatres, zoos, amusement parks, markets, animal shows, fairs, conferences, museums, and outdoor sports, including football matches. Use of the coronapas will still be required for events with more than 2,000 people until October 1.
Back to football games away teams can now have their own fans in the stands along with everyone else, as the overall caps on spectators is largely abolished.
Large outdoor events can do away with the requirement to divide attendees into sections of 1,000. But only if they offer permanent seats and register everyone who attends. This allows for more efficient contact tracing should infections at the event be confirmed.
The requirement for two weekly COVID tests are abolished at efterskoler, daghøjskoler, ungdoms - voksenuddannelser, videregående uddannelser, and folkehøjskoler. But while no longer mandatory, officials are still encouraging students to continue to get tested.
Occupancy limits are also removed for the metro in big cities, and for buses, regional trains, S-trains, private railways, and schools buses across the country.
The next phase of easing COVID restrictions comes in one month.
September 1st
All remaining mandated use of masks/visors is abolished.
All remaining restrictions on restaurant opening hours, alcohol sales, and indoor social distancing is abolished.
Discos, nightclubs, and other nightlife venues can reopen. A coronapas is required to enter but no other restrictions apply.
All requirements for hand sanitizer and COVID signage for retail and all other indoor areas is lifted.
Retail and grocery stores 2,000 m2 and larger can remove all caps on the number of customers allowed inside.
Coronapas requirements largely come to an end except for nightlife venues and some indoor and outdoor events.
All testing requirements for physically being at work and for those whom work in a daycare is rescinded EXCEPT for anyone who is not vaccinated.
October 1st
The coronapas requirement for nightlife venues like discos and dance clubs is lifted.
Coronapas requirements for events with more than 2,000 spectators will be lifted.
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A full quarter of all infections in Denmark are travel-related according to the Staten Serum Institut. The most common countries travelers report getting infected in are Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, and France.
Acting Technical Director Tyra Grove Krause:
“We see that a large number of infections now occurs among travelers who return home from abroad. This is partly due to the Delta variant, which is very contagious, as it spreads both here and in the rest of the world. That is why it is important that we all do what we can to prevent infection if we are traveling.”
The SSI recommends not traveling unless you are vaccinated and remember, vaccine’s offer much less protection from the Delta variant after one dose. Even if you’re vaccinated, get tested if you have symptoms and even if you do not get a PCR test when returning home. When traveling, take every precaution to protect yourself from infection.
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Denmark has made its weekly adjustments to its colour-coded COVID risk travel assessments. All changes came into force over the weekend.
In the European Union, Liechtenstein is now near-normal green.
A number of regions in other countries have become be-cautious yellow. They include the regions of Normandy, Grand Est, Pays de la Loire, Brittany, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France.
In Greece, the Northern Aegean Sea is also now yellow, as is the Madeira region in Portugal, and Geneva in Switzerland.
Outside the EU, Suriname has been downgraded from high-risk red to medium-risk orange. While Fiji and Iraq move in the other direction, going from orange to COVID red zones.
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Denmark has added 2,717 COVID infections and one more coronavirus death in the last three days. There were 1,085 cases reported on Friday, 739 on Saturday, and another 893 yesterday.
Yesterday, there were 68,858 PCR corona tests done for a positivity percentage of 1.29%, which is high.
There are 26 Danish kommunes with COVID incidence rates exceeding 100 per 100,000 residents. Of those, Albertslund in Metro Copenhagen and Aarhus both have incidence rates above 200.
The district of Skagen has met two out of three requirements that would require an automatic lockdown. With 483 infections going into the weekend, it would have to see 1,000 before meeting the third and triggering an automatic shutdown. Region Nordjylland has extended opening hours at the test center in Skagen city hall from 9am to 5pm every day until Wednesday.
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On the vaccination front, 71.8% of the population have one vaccination dose while 54.6% are fully vaccinated.
On Saturday, there were just 26,591 total inoculations administered, which is the lowest weekend number in many weeks.
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Over the weekend, DSB dropped the requirement, requiring a separate seat reservation with every ticket on a regional train. It was initiated during the pandemic to be able to ensure social distancing among train passengers.
DSB Information Manager Tony Bispeskov spoke to Ritzau:
“First and foremost, this means that it will be easier for customers who have so far had to go in and find a seat ticket on a website or app, because they do not have to do it anymore if they have to travel by regional train.”
The seat reservation requirement remains in place for train travel on intercity or intercity light rail.
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On July 1, the Swedish Public Health Agency said it was anticipating that COVID infections are “expected to be low during the summer, and then turn upwards again from low levels at the end of August.”
One month later, it is now warning that the Delta variant is causing infections to increase in many areas of Sweden, but especially in the big cities. In a release on Friday, the agency said in week 29, the week of July 19 - 25, there were 2,637 confirmed coronavirus cases in Sweden, a 42% increase from the week previous. This number may also be under-estimated due to a reporting lag that’s been plaguing the country since the last week of May.
The national health agency says COVID incidence rates above 100 per 100,000 residents were higher in eleven regions in week 29. With most of the new infections being among those aged 10 to 39 years of age.
Travel-related infections in Sweden, according to the public health agency, now account for 20% of all new coronavirus cases.
So far, hospitalizations and deaths both remain very low, although both are laggard stats, with any increases usually coming well after infections rise. That said, Sweden has a very high rate of vaccination, which has, in other highly vaccinated countries, offered a major buffer between hospitalizations and infections surges.
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Since Thursday’s update Norway has added 1,073 new infections and had no new virus deaths.
COVID hospitalizations (17) are down (-8) while the number of infected in an ICU (6) and of those on a ventilator (3) are unchanged.
To date, 66.13% of Norwegians have had one vaccine dose while 33.40% have had both.
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“The pandemic is not over, not in the world, and not in Norway.”
The Norwegian Institute for Public Health is responding to a report from the US Center for Disease Control that’s caused some reaction over the weekend. The report found that even fully vaccinated people who get infected with the Delta variant can pass the infection on to others. It recommended that even fully vaccinated people go back to wearing masks when indoors with others and that they isolate after being exposed to someone with COVID. There’s been some pretty breathless reporting on this new development and the NIPH is looking to get some facts front and center.
“Unvaccinated people are clearly more prone to infection and serious illness than vaccinated people. There are very few COVID infections among fully vaccinated people in Norway, and very few serious cases. However, we know that not all vaccinated people achieve full protection. This means that as a larger proportion of the adult population has been vaccinated, a larger proportion of those who become infected, become ill, and need hospitalization, or die will naturally also be in the group who are vaccinated.”
The institute says people who are in high-risk groups who are fully vaccinated can still be at risk, albeit much lower than if they were unvaccinated.
NIPH Assistant Director Geir Bukholm:
“It is important to point out that the CDC in no way considers that the data they released is an argument against vaccination. On the contrary, they conclude that even greater efforts must be made to ensure that a larger proportion of the population is fully vaccinated. The situation in the USA also shows that there is an alarming number of unvaccinated people who are now admitted to hospitals with severe cases of coronavirus.”
The NIPH warns that while infection numbers in Norway are currently low, with the Delta variant becoming dominant, it expects cases to increase. But “At the same time, we expect that the incidence of more serious illness will remain low because more and more people in Norway are protected through vaccination. The vaccines have helped to break the direct connection we have seen earlier in the pandemic, with an increase in infection and then an increase in hospital admissions.”
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Finland has registered 2,061 coronavirus infections since its Thursday update. Its fourth infection wave is beginning to creep close to record highs set in its third wave.
The 794 infections reported on Saturday are the highest single day total since late March.
So far, the vaccination effort in Finland has seen 3,696,811 1st vaccine doses administered (66.2% of the population) while 1,956,843 people (35.1%) are fully vaccinated.
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As the number of infections rise in Finland health officials are noting increasing case numbers among young people and those who are unvaccinated. A decision will come next week in the Helsinki Uusimaa Hospital District to possibly move the region into the ‘community transmission’ phase of Finland’s three-tiered COVID risk assessment system. Currently, six Finnish regions are on the middle acceleration phase. Rising coronavirus numbers in the region have prompted a run on COVID testing, pushing testing wait times into the 20-hour neighbourhood. Helsinki will open a couple new testing sites to try and speed things up. The health region is also hoping that nursing staff returning from summer vacation can also help alleviate waiting times.
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The number of infections in the Finnish city of Turku are ‘skyrocketing’ according to YLE. It reports there have been 300 new coronavirus cases in the last week, resulting in a COVID incidence rate of 230 per 100,000 residents. The Delta variant is behind the surge of corona cases.
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As of yesterday (Sunday) anyone 12 years old and older who is not fully vaccinated must have a negative COVID test to travel into Germany. It doesn’t apply to people who are fully vaccinated or who have had a previous recent coronavirus infection. In both cases, people must have documentation proving vaccination or recent infection status. Also exempt are cross-border commuters and people who are traveling through Germany to get to another EU destination. Everyone else must have documentation showing a negative COVID test not more than 48 hours old for a rapid test or no more than 72 hours old for PCR test. For anyone coming from a country designated as a COVID variant, high-risk the rapid test cannot be any more than 24 hours old.
Everyone who arrives by airplane or ferry will be checked. Police will do random checks for those driving across the border. People who violate the rules could face serious fines and anyone without a negative test will also have to serve a mandated quarantine.
Previously, the negative test requirement only applied to those flying into Germany. It has now been extended to all travelers 12 years old and up.
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There are reports out of Germany that plans are underway to begin rolling out COVID vaccine booster shots, possibly beginning in September. AFP says it has documents showing that Germany will prioritize seniors and at-risk groups. Mobile vaccination sites would be used to offer a third inoculation at nursing and seniors homes. Regardless of what vaccine was used for doses one and two, Germany will offer only Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in its booster-shot program.
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Both Pfizer and Moderna have raised the per-dose price of their COVID vaccines in each company’s latest contracts with the European Union, and by extension to all member countries. The Financial Times has seen “portions of the contracts” and reports that Pfizer has hiked its price up from €15.50 to €19.50 per-dose, while Moderna has also increased its per-dose price from €19 to €21.90.
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The European Medicines Agency has approved a scaling up of two Moderna sites in the United States. The beefed-up production in the USA is expected to pay dividends in a Europe with what the EMA calls “significant impacts” on the supply of the Moderna vaccine to the EU. It is estimated that the move will mean another 40-million vaccine doses headed to Europe by the third quarter of this year.
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According to the BBC, the British Government is looking to incentivize vaccinations by offering people the opportunity to save a few bucks. The government has partnered with car-share services like Uber, food delivery vendors, restaurants, and others to offer discounts to people who are vaccinated.
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Britain may be readying to roll out third booster shots to some 32 million people, according to a report from The Telegraph. It says that booster shots could be offered beginning in September to those over 50 who are considered high-risk with weakened immune systems.
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In the UK, the Delta variant-driven infection wave seems to have peaked and is now declining. Although the rates of hospitalization and fatalities are still trending upward, albeit at reduced numbers from just a few weeks ago.
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The World Health Organization is again warning that Delta variant-fueled infection waves rolling around the globe are out-pacing vaccination efforts.
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus:
"Since our last press conference, COVID cases and deaths have continued to climb. Almost four-million cases were reported to WHO last week, and on current trends, we expect the total number of cases to pass 200 million within the next two weeks. And we know that is an underestimate. The rise is also driven by increased social mixing and mobility, the inconsistent use of public health and social measures, and inequitable vaccinations. Hard-won gains are in jeopardy or being lost, and health systems in many countries are being overwhelmed.”
The WHO says five of its six global regions are seeing infection increases of 80% or more in the last four weeks. In Africa, deaths have also jumped by 80%. Once again, oxygen is in critically short supply across 29 different countries, basic medical supplies are strained, and frontline healthcare workers are in harms way.
“So far, just over half of the countries in the world have fully vaccinated 10% of their population, less than a quarter of countries have vaccinated 40%, and only 3 countries have vaccinated 70%.”
The WHO warns as long as COVID runs amok across large areas of the world, the chances of more variants of concern evolving and posing a significant global danger will persist.
🇰🇭 🇮🇱
Cambodia is following Israel in beginning a drive to administer a third COVID vaccine booster shot. Healthcare workers will be the first group prioritized for the booster shot. For people in Cambodia who have been vaccinated with Sinopharm or Sinovac - two Chinese vaccines - they will get an AstraZeneca booster.
Israel has decided to begin offering a third booster dose to everyone 60 years old and older.
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Australia’s third-largest city went into a snap COVID lockdown on Saturday. Brisbane and other parts of the Australian state of Queensland and there millions of residents were placed under a stay-at-home order that was initially meant to last at least three days. On Monday, the lockdown in Brisbane was extended until at least Sunday. Army patrols are out in the city to enforce the stay-at-home order.
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Meanwhile, in New South Wales, it recorded 210 new infections on Saturday, up from 170 on Friday, as a hard lockdown remains in place.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard says two-thirds of the infections are among people under the age of 40.
“I would ask everybody in the local area to do what NSW Health has asked on many occasions and that is a stay-at-home. Just stay-at-home.”
Police in the Australian state are also not messing around, as hundreds of police officers have hit the streets to enforce the stay-at-home order and prevent another anti-lockdown demonstration.
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As of August 1, Canada passed Israel for the number of people who are now fully vaccinated. Canada’s vaccination program, which got off to a slow start, has been roaring along for weeks and has now passed the European Union, the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel for having the most fully vaccinated population.
The impact of the vaccinated program can be seen in the rates of new COVID infections in the last few weeks compared to the United States.
Canada reported 907 new infections and 17 more coronavirus deaths yesterday. The weekend numbers will likely change when a number of provinces who have stopped reporting on weekends update three days worth of numbers later today.
The Canadian vaccination campaign has so far administered 26,988,832 1st doses (70.89% of the population) while 22,232,865 people (58.40%) are now fully vaccinated.
