Monday Morning News & Notes
Denmark makes most of Europe near normal ‘green.’
🇩🇰
On Saturday, Denmark officially reintroduced ‘green’ back into its colour-coded COVID risk assessment of other countries. Currently, the designation is contained to nations within the EU and European Economic Area.
In essence, the changes mean
A negative COVID test is no longer required before boarding a flight to Denmark for all travelers except those coming from high-risk ‘red’ countries and regions. For travelers from ‘red’ countries and regions, only a negative PCR test will suffice. Rapid test results will not be accepted.
A negative test is still required but now presented on arrival in Denmark for anyone traveling from any other country not designated as ‘red’ who are not Danish citizens or permanent residents. A negative PCR test is extended from 48 to 72 hours.
Mandatory testing on entry into Denmark also does not apply for travelers from EU and Schengen Zone countries deemed as ‘yellow’ or ‘green.’ People who are fully vaccinated or who have had a recent previous infection who hold a EU digital COVID certificate are exempt.
The requirement to undergo a mandatory quarantine when entering Denmark no longer applies for all travelers from the EU/Schengen Zone, unless they are arriving from a ‘red’ country or region.
If you are planning some holidays elsewhere in Europe, this is how it currently looks from the perspective of Denmark’s Foreign Affairs.
As always, countries outside Denmark have their own entry restrictions and COVID assessment risks of other nations, so check ahead.
As of last Saturday afternoon Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France (excluding the overseas territories of Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, and Mayotte), Greece, Italy, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria all moved from low-risk ‘yellow’ to near normal ‘green.’
Regions within other EU countries were also downgraded with Madeira in Portugal along with the regions of Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Ceuta, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia, and Valencia in Spain also going ‘green.’
Spain remains yellow (except for the ‘green’ regions noted above) along with Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Portugal (excluding the Madeira region), San Marino, and the Vatican City State
The following countries continue to be medium-risk ‘orange’ due to either their COVID situation or significant entry restrictions for travelers from Denmark. They are Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Hungary.
-
As of yesterday (Sunday) people living in Denmark can travel into Germany by car or on a ferry without being required to show a negative COVID test or fill out a digital entry form. However, while the restriction are lifted for travel by road or water, they are not for those traveling by air. Anyone flying into Germany from Denmark must still have a negative coronavirus test. Denmark’s plummeting infection rates led Germany to remove Denmark as a high-COVID-risk area, allowing it to ease travel restrictions.
-
The first case of a new COVID variant was confirmed in Denmark over the weekend. The Staten Serum Institut says the AY.1 variant, also called Delta Plus, was Identified in a passenger on a flight from Portugal. The agency says the passenger is in isolation and everyone else on the flight should be too. The SSI says no other cases of AY.1 have been found in Denmark yet.
The AY.1 variant is a sub-strain of the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) and was first identified in India in April. Since then, it has spread to other European countries and the United States. The variant is a concern because it has a mutation, K417N, that it shares with the Brazilian P1 (Beta) variant. The mutation has been associated with increased infectivity and decreased efficacy of neutralizing antibodies. The good news is that so far, preliminary data shows vaccines work against it.
SSI Department Head, and Professor at the Department of Global Health at Copenhagen University, Troels Lillebæk:
"At present, there is no indication that Delta-AY.1 is spreading more than the Delta variant without mutation K417N. But we need more data to be able to assess the risk of the Delta-AY.1 variant accurately."
-
Several Danish media are reporting that Delta variant infections have forced an SFO in Tappernøje, near Næstved, to shut down. There are two confirmed Delta variant cases at the SFO. It is now closed until at least Thursday, while staff and students are sent home for isolation and testing. An school in Aarhus and its employees and 66 students have also been closed for a week due to COVID infection.
-
Since our last report on Informeret on Thursday, Denmark has added 591 COVID infections and suffered one more coronavirus death. It reported 222 new corona cases on Friday, 195 on Saturday, and 174 on Sunday.
As Denmark’s pandemic situation continues to trend downward, all the kommunes in the country remain under a COVID incidence rate of 100 per 100,000 residents. Although, Glostrup is pretty close.
On the vaccination front, over half the total population, 3,234,564 people or 55.3% of the total population - now has at least one vaccination dose while one in three people - 1,825,949 or 31.2% are now fully vaccinated.
On Saturday, there were 41,794 total vaccinations done.
Keep in mind, June was the big vaccination push as supply ramped up for a few weeks. Now the number of Pfizer/BioNTech doses, will decline and with them, the number of daily vaccinations.
Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke celebrated the vaccination milestone in a tweet where he credited very high vaccination uptake in Denmark. He added “this is the way to freedom from the pandemic.”
-
The AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will stay on the shelf. Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke had asked the National Health Board to reconsider its decision as a way to accelerate Denmark’s vaccination program. The decision whether to uphold the ban or reverse course was supposed to be announced two weeks ago and instead came on Friday.
Sundhedsstyrelsen Deputy Director Helene Probst:
“The balance between possible benefit and possible harmful effects is still not favorable, even when we include assumptions in our analyzes that must be in favor of the vaccine. Our updated assessment also includes that the mRNA vaccines that we recommended have also proven to be a lot more effective in relation to preventing serious disease, infection, and also in relation to new variants.”
AstraZeneca was removed from Denmark’s vaccination program on April 14 and Johnson & Johnson on May 3. Both are available through an alternate vaccination scheme run by Practio, a private provider, but paid for by the Danish Government.
It is worth noting that in its updated assessment, the National Health Board stated “it can be established with certainty that both [Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines] cause the VITT syndrome.” VITT is the name given to the suite of rare but potentially deadly side effects, including severe blood clotting, bleeding, and low platelets related to vaccinations with the two viral-vector vaccines.
-
As of Thursday, anyone who has a valid medical reason or a physical or mental impairment preventing them from being able to undergo a COVID test will have to have documentation to prove it. People who qualify based on a list of health reasons prepared by Denmark’s health ministry can get their exemption documentation at their municipalities Citizens Services Center. The documentation will be required for those who qualify for the exemption to gain access to places requiring a coronapas.
According to Denmark’s health ministry, the approved conditions to allow for a testing exemption include those who have cancer, or are receiving treatment for cancer of the lips, mouth, or nose. People with a facial injury such as a broken nose. People with some kind of malformed nose or sinus issue. And anyone who has bleeding concerns, like hemophilia.
-
The Danish Red Cross has shipped 15 million COVID masks to hard hit Nepal. The chapter’s General Secretary, Anders Ladekarl, tweeted his thanks to companies around Denmark who donated the masks.
-
The Danish Agency for Patient Safety has released its latest monthly assessment of contact tracing efforts, this time for May. The success rate for reaching an infected person stays extremely high. The agency wasn’t able to make contact with just 1.8% of all infection cases in May. The number rises slightly when looking at efforts to chase down an infected person’s close contacts. There, the agency came up empty in just 2..8% of cases.
In May, there were 777 cases involving variants of concern and thus really concerted efforts not just to chase down infection cases and their contacts, but also to follow up with each. This would include checks to make sure a proper quarantine is being observed.
In every case, the agency tries to determine where a person became infected. The top reasons given in May were unknown, at home, from friends or family, and at work.
The agency’s contact tracers also try and track travel-related infections, asking anyone who was infected with a recent travel history in which country they think they caught the virus. Sweden, Poland, and India were the top three, followed by Ukraine and Germany.
🇫🇮
The Finnish Institute for Health said on Saturday the number of COVID infections among Finns returning from St. Petersburg, Russia has “further increased.” On Thursday, the agency reported a “remarkable” number of infections among Finns returning from St. Petersburg. On the weekend, Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district (HUS) chief physician Timo Lukkarinen told Finnish news agency YLE the number of infections has risen to 140 and will likely continue to rise.
"The figures will rise because some of those exposed will also become infected. What is critical now is whether these exposed people have avoided social contact.”
The health agency now says anyone traveling from St. Petersburg to Finland “by any bus company” may have been exposed. It is urging anyone who made the trip to get a COVID test right away.
“Infections have been detected in passengers to such an extent that anyone on any bus or minibus may have been exposed during the journey.”
YLE reports that last week about 800 people were allowed to enter Finland from Russia without undergoing a COVID test due to a huge line-up at the Vaalimaa border crossing. The crossing was jammed with football fans returning from the Finland versus Belgium game in St. Petersburg.
The institute says the concern now extends not just to people who made the trip to St. Petersburg, but to anyone they have had contact with since returning.
🇷🇺
Infections are again rising in Russia as the Delta variant begins to spread. In St. Petersburg, it reported almost 1,300 infections just yesterday, with more than 100 corona deaths in the last day. St. Petersburg is hosting the European Championships quarter-final match on Friday. In Russia, Moscow remains the hardest hit and its mayor is threatening a lockdown. While Russian numbers are rising, it remains hard to assess the true extent of the virus spread due to the country’s extremely dodgy reporting system and state control suppressing information the Kremlin doesn’t want broadcast.
🇱🇺
Barend Leyts, the spokesperson for European Council President Charles Michel, has tweeted that Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has tested positive for COVID. This comes after he attended the European Council with other EU leaders. Leyts says Bettel tested negative prior to the event and his team does not believe that he had any close contact with any head of state or government before he became symptomatic.
Leyts also says every precaution was taken at European Council including ensuring proper social distancing.
🇪🇺💉
The European Medicines Agency has approved a new manufacturing site for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The facility will be in Anagni, Italy and can begin operations immediately. The EMA says the site is expected to help boost vaccine production within the EU.
🇨🇦
In non-COVID news back in Canada Lytton, B.C. just shattered the previous hottest temperature ever recorded while most of us were sleeping here in Europe.
On the COVID front Ontario added 633 infections over the weekend reporting 346 on Saturday and another 287 on Sunday. The province also set a vaccination record.
🇨🇺
Cuba is trumpeting the success of its homegrown vaccine, dubbed Abdala. According to the state-run biotech corporation, BioCubaFarma, the vaccine is 92.28% effective against the coronavirus. If proven true, this would put it on par with Pfizer and Moderna for efficacy against COVID. The vaccine does not use mRNA, like Pfizer or Moderna, nor is it a vector vaccine like AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson rather it is a protein vaccine. The vaccine requires three doses, spaced two weeks apart.
Vaccinations in Cuba have begun even though third-phase clinical trials aren’t complete. According to a report by DW 2.2 million Cubans have already recorded a first dose. The vaccine’s efficacy has yet to be substantiated by the WHO or anyone else. Cuba has charted its own path, enduring the ravages of COVID while refusing any outside vaccines, no matter who was offering them.
If the vaccine is indeed as effective as claimed, its arrival will be a major relief, as Cuba registered 2,698 new infections yesterday, the highest of any day of the pandemic to date, while losing ten more lives to the virus.
🇿🇦
As infections rocket upward due to the Delta variant South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is introducing new COVID restrictions. For a two-week period, all public assemblies will be banned, schools will be closed, and a curfew imposed from 9pm to 4am.
Yesterday, South Africa recorded 15,036 new infections and 122 more virus deaths.
🇧🇩
In Bangladesh infections are also rising as the country is about to impose a week -long national shut-down, which will include a ban on leaving your home except in an emergency. The lockdown has sparked a scramble as tens of thousands of people are trying to leave the big cities and get back to their villages before the lid comes down. Again, the much more contagious Delta variant is suspected to be at play.
