Monday Morning News & Notes
Denmark ramps up military spending. Long-COVID a health concern needing addressing.
🇺🇦 🇷🇺 War
🇩🇰
A majority of the parties in the Danish parliament have agreed that “European security is threatened” due to Russia invading Ukraine and in response have reached a deal on a historic investment to strengthen the military. The pact would also see Denmark end its reliance on Russian gas “as soon as possible.” All this and a national referendum to come in three months to ask Danes if they want to be much closer to the European Union from a military perspective.
The agreement will see billions of kroner set aside to begin immediately strengthening Denmark’s Armed Forces. It also pledges to ramp up defense spending to 2% of GDP to meet NATO’s target by 2033. This would include a set percentage of the military budget dedicated to new military equipment.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said “historic times call for historic decisions” as she announced a national referendum on June 1 to ask Danes if they want to end Denmark’s 30 year-long opting out of EU defense policy. While Denmark is part of the European Union, it chose to opt out of some of the common market options, like, for example, avoiding the Euro to retain the Danish kroner. It also chose not to be a part of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, an integrated European emergency response, security, and military deployment pact. On June 1, Danes will vote to either retain Denmark’s military autonomy or to become the 26th European nation to join the Common Security and Defence Policy.
The final plank of the parliamentary agreement is to end all reliance on Russian gas as fast as humanly possible. This would mean really accelerating the phasing out of natural gas from Russia and replacing it with renewable energy, Danish biogas, and over the short term increasing gas extraction from the North Sea. It also suggests stepping up construction of the Baltic pipeline, which would establish a gas pipeline from Norway through Denmark to Poland. The pipeline is scheduled to finish construction in October of this year.
Asked by reporters why they are making such drastic shifts in defense policy right now, Mette Frederiksen said:
“Ukraine is the difference. A free, democratic country is under attack from Russia.”
🇩🇰🇬🇧
On Friday, the Defense Ministers of the United Kingdom and Denmark signed a letter of intent to strengthen cooperation on defense between the two countries. Danish Defense Minister Morten Bødskov met his counterpart from Great Britain, Ben Wallace, in Copenhagen when Denmark was hosting Joint Expeditionary Forces military exercises. In signing the letter of intent, the two ministers noted, the two countries have long worked together on defense and security, including in the ten-country JEF, and the goal is to build on that cooperation in light of Russia’s increasing aggression and invasion of Ukraine.
🇩🇰
Danish municipalities are shedding any and all Russian investments as directed by the government a few days ago. Danish kommunes were asked to review their investments to ensure they comply with sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Minister of the Interior and Housing Kaare Dybvad Bek asked municipalities and regions to liquidate any direct or indirect investments in Russian securities.
In the municipality of Næstved it was discovered some 150,000 kroner was invested in Russian securities. Mayor Carsten Rasmussen says the shares will be sold as soon as possible, even if it results in a loss.
“I would rather do that than have investments in a country that goes to war with a completely free and independent country, such as Ukraine.”
-
Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is advising against all travel to Russia. It has also changed Russia’s colour-coded security alert level from orange to high-risk red. The ministry cites an “unpredictable security situation” and the rapidly decreasing options to leave the country with European air space closed to all Russian aircraft.
-
Russian forces have overrun the infamous decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, engaged in a firefight at Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which included launching artillery fire at the plant, briefly setting a part of it on fire. Now Denmark’s National Health Board is trying to soothe any jittered nerves. It says, along with the Danish Emergency Management Branch (DEMA), it is keeping a close eye on developments in Ukraine.
The health board says to date there have been no signs of radioactive emissions or any indication of the spreading of radioactive materials from nuclear power plants in Ukraine. DEMA constantly measures radiation levels in Denmark to assess any risks.
Chief Consultant Kresten Breddan:
“The National Board of Health cooperates with the Danish Emergency Management Agency, and with a network of European radiation protection authorities, including the Ukrainian authorities. We have a strong Danish radiation preparedness and are following the situation in Ukraine closely.”
Concerns about radiation or perhaps the threat of nuclear war have led to some people buying up iodine tablets. The health board warns against this. First, because over-the-counter iodine tablets are for dietary purposes and don’t offer any radiation protection. Second, real iodine tablets should only be taken on the advice of a doctor.
“In the current situation, the National Board of Health does not recommend taking iodine tablets in Denmark preventively. Here we are in line with authorities in the rest of Europe, as well as WHO's guidelines.”
The agency notes the nearest Ukrainian nuclear power plant to Denmark is more than 900 kilometers away. That is well outside the danger zone in a worst case scenario involving any leakage of radioactive materials.
🇸🇪 🇫🇮
It looks like threats from Russia over any move to join NATO are having exactly the opposite of the desired effect in Sweden and Finland. The Prime Ministers of the two countries met in Helsinki on Saturday to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and closer cooperation between the two nations on security and defense. At a press conference, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said both of the Nordic nations are cooperating more closely with NATO due to Russia’s increased aggression. Marin says that the attitudes of both Finns and Swedes towards NATO have changed and a closed relationship between the two countries and NATO is being discussed. However, when asked by reporters Marin wouldn’t elaborate on what that relationship would look like.
There are reports Finland and Sweden are seeking ‘major non-NATO ally’ status. This is short of actually joining NATO but allows for access to defense equipment and more integrated security cooperation, but without the full fledged security guarantees enjoyed by the 30 countries currently making up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Unlike Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, while Finland and Sweden are members of the European Union, they are not members of NATO.
🇸🇪
Today, Sweden will conduct a regular quarterly test of its alarm sirens across the country. Due to the heightened tensions due to increased Russian aggression Swedish authorities spent the weekend providing plenty of warning that the sirens would sound on Monday so people wouldn’t panic.
🇩🇰 🇪🇪 🇫🇮 🇩🇪 🇮🇸 🇱🇻 🇱🇹 🇳🇴 🇵🇱 🇸🇪
The Council of Baltic Sea States has suspended Russia and Belarus from all further participation due to the invasion of Ukraine. The council says its founding principles of peace, cohesion, and democracy have been “dramatically violated by the unprovoked and illegal military attack and aggression committed by Russia” against Ukraine. The decision, which was announced on Friday, came into force immediately.
The Council of Baltic Sea States membership countries are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden. Russia is now suspended as a member, while Belarus, which had observer status, is also now suspended.
🇨🇦
Global Affairs Canada issued a travel advisory over the weekend warning Canadians against all travel to Russia. It also took the extra step of warning any Canadians who are in Russia to leave immediately.
“Avoid all travel to Russia due to the impacts of the armed conflict with Ukraine, including limited flight options and restrictions on financial transactions. If you are in Russia, you should leave while commercial means are still available.”
The agency estimates there may be around 1,197 Canadians in Russia.
🦠Pandemic🦠
🇩🇰
More than half of all adults in Denmark have been infected with coronavirus since November. That is the estimation from the Statens Serum Institut as it releases the latest results from its study of blood donors. After checking all blood donations from the week running from February 14 to 20 for COVID antibodies, it estimates 59% of everyone between the ages of 17 and 72 has been infected.
Aarhus University Hospital Professor Christian Erikstrup:
“The proportion of those with COVID antibodies has increased 15 percentage points since the previous round in week 5. This is far more than between the first round in week 3 and the second round. Here, the share rose by only 6.7 percentage points. The study also shows that regional differences are now much smaller and have largely evened out since monitoring began. This reflects that there has been a lot of infection throughout the country.”
The SSI teamed up with Aarhus University Hospital and the Danish Blood Bank to screen blood donations to get a better handle on what it calls the coronavirus “dark number.” That is the number of infections that have escaped detection. People, for example, who were infected but were asymptomatic and were never tested. The institute pegs the ‘dark number’ of escaped infections at about one-third.
SSI Director Henrik Ullum:
“Data confirms that increasing population immunity plays a significant role in the fall in the infection numbers we see in all parts of the country right now and, which must therefore be expected to continue.”
To help narrow down the infection ‘dark number’ blood donations are screened for COVID antibodies and then cross-checked against positive PCR test results. The SSI does caution that these numbers are “subject to considerable uncertainty.” This is due to confining the screening to just the adult population and the assumptions that come with extrapolating the results across the larger population.
-
Long-COVID is a serious health issue in Denmark and needs to be dealt with. That is in essence the first findings of a huge Danish study conducted by the Statens Serum Institut. The study involved combing through the national heath registry and including hundreds of thousands of people, both those who were infected and those who were not, in a health questionnaire.
The first results found that almost one-third of participants reported struggling with COVID symptoms up to a year after recovering from an infection.
Researcher Anna Irene Vedel Sørensen:
“Our study is not just the largest questionnaire survey of late effects to date. It is probably also the study that is most representative of the broader population. It has given us a completely unique opportunity to invite participants based on whether they have tested positive or not. This gives us a clear advantage over late-stage studies, which may have only included people who have had a severe COVID infection.”
There were about 600,000 people who responded to the COVID questionnaire, with 152,880 people in Denmark participating in a sub-group comparing those who had COVID and those who haven’t.
Researchers found women, middle aged people, and those with severe infections resulting in hospitalization were more vulnerable to long-COVID. Among the most common symptoms people experienced were loss of taste and smell and struggling with fatigue. The study also found people who had COVID called in sick to work months after recovering much more frequently than those who haven’t had COVID.
These are just initial findings, with more to come as researchers pour over the data.
Study lead Professor Anders Hviid:
“We are going to go in depth with mental and cognitive health and chronic fatigue. We will also look at the effect of the vaccines on the development of long-COVID. And then, of course, we also have to look at what role the different variants play. Here, of course, the most pressing question is to what extent Omicron has had on lingering symptoms.”
Hviid says it is not clear that many people in Denmark have been struggling with lingering health impacts after having a coronavirus infection. While the symptoms are, for the most part, not serious, he says, people are experiencing a deterioration in their health and this needs to be addressed.
-
COVID hospitalizations (1,556) edged back upward (+21) while the number of severe cases in an ICU (37) also crept up (+2) and of those the number on a ventilator (16) dropped (-3). Infection admissions to a psychiatric ward (368) also rose again (+8).
-
The number of severe infections requiring treatment in an intensive care unit in Denmark hit a record low last month. Figures from the Regions Clinical Quality Development Program show while COVID hospital admissions exceeded 10,000 in February, only one-percent of those patients were admitted to an ICU. To compare. In November and December last year that number each month was 6%.
Rigshospitalet Professor Anders Perner spoke to Ritzau:
“The Omicron variant has become dominant, and it makes people less ill. At the same time, booster dose vaccinations have also contributed.”
-
Denmark added another 137 coronavirus fatalities over the weekend as measured by deaths within four weeks of a positive test while seeing another 46,828 COVID infections. It reported 41 pandemic deaths on Friday, followed by 58 more on Saturday, and then another 38 on Sunday.
There were 56,882 total corona tests done on Saturday, of which 40,972 were PCR tests equaling a positivity percentage of 26.42%.
-
The number of COVID admissions over the last seven days is much lower than it was just a few weeks ago. Although the number of hospitalized infants over the last week continues to be higher than all other age groups under the age of 19. There were 1,639 infants who tested positive in the last seven days, resulting in 91 hospitalizations.
-
An investigation by Rigshospitalet and the Staten Serums Institut has found that rates of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children have decreased with the Omicron variant as opposed to previous coronavirus strains. MIS-C is a rare side effect among children after a coronavirus infection. The potentially serious complications can result in a child being admitted to intensive care as MIS-C triggers a violent reaction from the immune system, often impacting one or more internal organs.
The study by the Danish health authorities found 88 total cases of MIS-C during the pandemic among kids between the ages of one and 17. Up until February 21, 2021, MIS-C cases among children were about one in every 1,700 coronavirus infections involving unvaccinated children. Since December 15, 2021, when the Omicron variant arrived and became dominant, MIS-C incidents among unvaccinated children dropped to one in every 5,400 infections.
SSI Epidemiologist Laura Espenhain:
“This suggests that more MIS-C cases occurred in children with earlier COVID variants than with the Omicron variant. But it is still too early to assess the risk definitively.”
-
The vaccination effort continues to limp along with just 850 booster doses administered on Saturday.
To date, 82.4% of the total population has one vaccine dose (a number that hasn’t changed since mid-January), while 81% have two, and 61.2% have a booster dose.
-
Denmark’s Epidemic Commission has dropped the COVID risk level in all five of the Danish kommunes to two. It was already at two in Region Sjælland and in Metro Copenhagen. But after looking at last week’s numbers the commission decided to downgrade Regions Nordjylland, Midtjylland, and Syddanmark from three down to two. This is due to falling numbers among the elderly, drops in confirmed cases, and a decreasing positivity percentage.
-
And then there were none. All of Denmark’s COVID rapid testing sites are now closed after holding their last day of operations yesterday. During the pandemic, over 61-million rapid tests were administered at a cost to the state of more than 7.5 billion Danish kroner.
Closing the rapid test sites has put almost 15,000 people out of work. Copenhagen Medical, which operated the rapid testing sites in Region Hovedstaden, will create a job fair and an online job portal to help their 7,500 laid-off staff.
🇳🇴
In Norway, COVID hospitalizations (555) the number of severe infections in intensive care (48) of those the number on a ventilator (26) are all unchanged since Friday’s update.
Norge had no new pandemic deaths while adding another 13,450 infections (underreported) over the weekend.
So far, 80.3% of Norwegians 12 years old and older have one dose, 74.6% have two, and 53.6% have a booster dose.
-
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health says other than coronavirus, all other respiratory infection levels remain low. The agency says other than COVID and influenza, all other respiratory infections account for just 1% of all screened positive tests. Of those, rhinovirus is the most common.
The NIPH does say the common cold is making the rounds with cases increasing week over week.
As far as respiratory infection-related hospitalizations coronavirus cases topped the list with 67% of hospital admissions. It was followed by lower respiratory tract infections (28%), upper respiratory tract infections (5%), and influenza (1%) .
The NIPH says there is still no sign of a feared mammoth influenza wave. Cases were rising before Christmas but quickly stagnated at the end of December. The number of seasonal flu cases hasn’t picked up since.
🇧🇪
Belgium is easing COVID restrictions as of today. Requirements to show a coronapas (called a COVID Safe Ticket in Belgium) to access bars, restaurants, cafes, and other venues has been lifted and no longer apply.
From the government website:
“From March 7, the corona barometer will switch to code yellow. That has been decided by the Consultation Committee. For example, the Covid Safe Ticket will disappear in the catering industry, and restrictions for events will expire. The epidemic emergency and the federal phase of the national emergency plan will also be cancelled after two years.”
However, masks are mandated for everyone 12 years old and older inside any of the country’s healthcare facilities and on public transit.
On March 11, Belgium will further ease entry rules, but just for travelers coming from within the European Union or Schengen area countries. Inbound travelers will no longer be required to fill out passenger locator forms prior to departure or face any other additional entry rules. Travelers from outside the EU will still face entry restrictions.
In Belgium, 88.9% of the adult population has two vaccine doses and 74.5% have had a booster dose.
🇨🇿
The Czech Republic is extending its entry rules. The country bases entry restrictions on the COVID risk for each passenger’s country of origin. Currently, all EU and Schengen zone countries except for Malta and the Vatican City State, are ‘dark red’ countries. Travelers coming from European countries will still need to fill out a passenger locator form before boarding and will also have to show either a recent negative test, recent infection recovery, or vaccination status with their EU COVID digital certificate to enter the country.
“Persons who have a maximum of 270 days from the completed vaccination are considered vaccinated. After a booster dose and in the case of people under 18, the vaccination certificate is valid indefinitely. Vaccines outside the European Union and people who have had COVID abroad must check that their certificate is recognized.”
Unvaccinated travelers heading to the Czech Republic will have to have a recent negative test in hand and will have a second mandatory PCR test between the fifth and seventh day after arrival.
🇪🇺
The Omicron wave continues to ease across Europe but the latest weekly assessment from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warns the epidemic is shifting. Overall, across the European Union infection numbers remain high but continue to fall sharply. The ECDC says dropping infection numbers are now being seen in every EU nation. That is the good news. The bad news is that COVID deaths, a lagging impact of infection waves, are increasing and forecast to continue rising in 11 countries over the next two weeks.
The COVID incidence rate per 100,000 residents across Europe continued to drop last week with an incidence rate of 1,681 compared to 2,318 the week before. That makes for four straight weeks with a dropping incidence rate. The death rate per million population also declined last week for the first time this year dropping from 56.4 to 47.1.
The agency says while infection numbers decline overall, it is now vulnerable groups and especially seniors most at risk. In fact, the ECDC says infections are rising among those 65 years old and older in seven countries, and that the age shift could mean increasing numbers of severe infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.
That said, it also notes due to “changes in testing strategies” in some counties there is much more uncertainty in overall numbers and determining infection trends.
Of 29 European countries reporting COVID hospitalizations and/or intensive care admissions data, seven disclosed increasing numbers in one or both categories.
Looking at individual EU countries, just one, Latvia, is considered a very high COVID concern. 11 nations are a ‘high concern’ and they are Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Norway, Slovakia, and Slovenia. 17 countries including Austria, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden are seen as being a moderate concern.
The ECDC says it is forecasting infection numbers and hospitalizations to continue to decrease over the next two weeks across Europe while COVID fatalities should remain stable.
In the European Union, the Omicron variant is absolutely dominant. It accounted for 99.5% of all sequenced positive test results, with the Delta strain all but vanished being detected in just 0.4% of cases.
In the EU, the cumulative vaccination uptake for two doses across the total population is 71.9% while 51.3% have a booster dose.
🇪🇺💉
The European Medicines Agency is pointing to a trove of vaccination data from Israel showing that giving booster doses to children 12 years old and older is very safe. Israeli data from vaccinating almost 400,000 adolescents with a booster dose identified no new safety concerns.
-
The EMA says that Moderna booster doses can be administered just three months after having a second vaccine inoculation. The agency is now reducing the recommended interval between 2nd and 3rd Moderna doses to match.
-
Europe’s pharmaceutical watchdog is not onboard with a second round of booster doses for seniors 70 years old and older, despite some EU countries doing just that. The EMA says at this stage there just isn’t enough clinical evidence or any other data to support a 2nd booster dose of an mRNA vaccine.
-
The European Medicines Agency says the rolling review process for a monoclonal antibodies cocktail called Evusheld as a treatment for a coronavirus infection is nearing its next steps. The EMA says the treatment is expected to be effective against the Omicron variant. It says “in the next few weeks” the review could move to the next step of submitting a marketing authorization application.
🇨🇦
COVID numbers are falling across Canada except in one category, coronavirus deaths, which is headed upward. The latest weekly pandemic snapshot from Public Health Agency of Canada while infections and hospitalizations eased there were 459 corona deaths in week 8, a 33% increase week over week.
The agency says among the provinces infection increased in Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick week to week while they dropped in every other province and territory.
PHAC says among the more reliable barometer of COVID hospitalizations, unvaccinated people still account for more hospitalizations than those who have two or three vaccine doses.
During the last week of February, general hospital and intensive care admissions both declined. As of February 26, there were 4,971 corona hospitalizations and 617 people in an ICU. That is a week-to-week decrease of 15.3% and 16.7% respectively.
The national positivity percentage for week 8 was 11% a slight decrease from the week prior.
On the variant front, Omicron rules the roost in Canada, accounting for 97% of all sequenced positive test results. The Delta variant came back in less than one-percent of test results. The results of the remaining 2% were “variants of concern of an undetermined lineage.”