The Evening Report - Jan 4
Danish kids head back to school with plenty of COVID testing in their future
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There was some sobering news in a press conference Tuesday on the topic of primary school students in Denmark returning to class on Wednesday.
“It is inevitable that the infection will increase.”
The Deputy Director of the National Health Board Helene Probst, says we there will absolutely be an increase in the number of infections in connection with young children returning to class. Probst says this isn’t just COVID, but also rates of influenza and the regular old cold will certainly flare up as well.
Probst says parents can help minimize infection risk.
“Make sure to get children vaccinated to prevent the infection.”
She also advises keeping children at home who are symptomatic and those who are close contacts of a coronavirus infection.
For school staff and teachers, she stresses that thorough cleaning and ensuring good hand-washing habits from kids in class are crucial. Cleaning must include commonly touched surfaces, toilets, door handles, computers, and iPads.
The Technical Director of the Statens Serum Institut, Tyra Grove Krause, agrees and says we are going to see “two tough months” ahead.
“We must face the fact that infection rates will increase and that we will again see daily infection rates of more than 20,000 infected.”
All this said, Denmark’s Minister for Children and Education, Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil is emphasizing that “it is safe to send the children back.”
“It is good that the children can now return to school. It must be safe to return, and therefore everyday life will not be quite as it used to be.”
She says there are more tools now available to fight COVID than there were a year ago. Rosenkrantz-Theil says she is confident that children can return to class without compromising their health or that of teachers and parents.
“It is good that the children can now return to school. It must be safe to return. The restrictions placed on students are made in close cooperation with the agencies that are responsible for schools and the health authorities.”
Students are recommended to undergo twice a week of COVID testing. Self-tests will be administered in class with teacher supervision for older students. Younger children can be tested at home with self-testing kits their parents can pick up at school. The testing mandate extends to school and daycare staff and teachers who must also get twice-weekly COVID testing regardless of vaccination status.
Also, classes are not to mix, all school social events and gatherings must be canceled; parents are to drop off and pick up their children outside the school; and if a parent or visitor has to go inside a school, they must wear a mask.
The SSI’s Tyra Grove Krause says the antigen home testing kits are very effective.
“Home tests are very similar to the tests used at the country's test centers. The difference lies is the fact that it will be the parents themselves who have to administer them, and that will naturally lead to greater uncertainty.”
She says the rapid tests can also detect Omicron variant infections.
“However, it is important to state that you must ensure that your child gets a PCR test if they test positive in a home test.”
The Danish Agency for Patient Safety will continue to monitor infection rates in schools and has the power to issue orders and injunctions. It can order classes to be suspended, send students home, and order schools and daycares to close entirely.
In the press conference, The Minister of Education denied that further restrictions are needed at present. But Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil added if the infection situation deteriorates, a decision will again be made as to whether further measures are needed.
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As Danish students head back to school tomorrow, the Danish Teachers Association would like to see classes divided into even smaller groups with students meeting every other day should the infection situation get even worse.
Education Minister Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil spoke to DR and dismissed the idea outright.
“The health authorities say quite clearly that it is not very effective in terms of breaking the chains of infection. So in terms of health, it doesn’t sound like we would make any gains.”
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The Chair of the National Association of Local Authorities Children and Education Committee, Thomas Gyldal Petersen, says schools should prepare for staffing challenges when teachers get sick. Peterson says municipalities will have to do everything they can to juggle school staffing, including people taking extra shifts, and “other local opportunities”, if the number of teachers becoming sick “becomes to great.”
Peterson says a lot of work is going into preparing for an as safe as possible return to school. He says school and daycare staff “show great flexibility and understanding in a high pressure situation.” He says having parents stay outside school buildings to drop off and pick up their children will help.
“We know that some children are frustrated when they cannot meet with their classmates in schools and when they are forced into distance learning. One of the most important things to ensure a good return is that the children show up having been tested. Therefore, we ask all parents to make sure to test their children regularly.”
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Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke says the COVID contact number (reinfection rate or R0) has declined from 1.1 last week to 0.9 this week. But Heunicke warns the calculation “is subject to great uncertainty” due to fluctuating holiday testing numbers and other factors.
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Denmark is reporting 25,073 COVID infections, including 1,701 breakthrough infections, and 15 coronavirus deaths. Note: the data is artificially higher because it includes about 60,000 tests that were missing in Monday’s report when an unusually low 8,269 cases were reported.
There were 429,387 total corona tests yesterday, of which 188,110 were PCR tests equaling a positivity percentage of 13.32%.
The chart below includes daily positive test results (blue) with the number of breakthrough infections (orange) included.
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COVID hospitalizations (794) continue to climb (+24) while the number of #COVID infected people in an ICU (77) also crept upward (+4) and of those the number on a ventilator (47) also inched up (+1).
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As COVID infections spread pressure is building on hospitals in Denmark’s capital region as increasing numbers of coronavirus patients flood in. The problem is exacerbated by a rising number of patients being admitted for other reasons.
Region Hovedstaden Council Chairman Lars Gaardhøj:
“We are watching with some concern about whether infections over Christmas and the New Year will increase the pressure on our hospitals. We need to prepare to be able to scale up and thus move around the staff, but there is a great focus that the hospitals first and foremost help and relieve each other.”
Management teams from hospitals in Metro Copenhagen will meet on Thursday to discuss how best to configure the hospital system to deal with the infection wave.
“Therefore, there will be patients who experience that instead of being admitted to Hvidovre or Bispebjerg Hospital, they are taken to, for example, Nordsjællands Hospital. It may not be optimal for the sake of the relatives, but we have to distribute the patients where there are most hands to receive them. We hope that people understand.”
The other issue on the table is whether to increase capacity not so much in intensive care but to cover general pandemic admissions.
“Although the increasing number of COVID patients does not seem to end up in intensive care, there are still some patients who are very ill. And no matter what, it is a great burden for hospitals when an ever-increasing number of patients have to be treated in isolation with everything that is required including protective equipment and an extra focus on hygiene. At the same time, there are many employees who are ill or sent home in isolation. So overall, there is a lot of pressure.”
Region Hovedstaden says at the moment there are no concerns about ICU capacity, with the number of corona patients in an ICU remaining fairly stable.
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On the vaccination front, there were 72,480 total inoculations on Monday, with most, 56,563, being booster doses.
To date, 81.9% of the total population have one vaccine dose, 78.3% have two, and almost half the eligible population, 49.4%, have a booster shot.
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As for two of Denmark’s five regions, the booster dose campaign is roaring along, with Region Nordjylland saying 82% of its eligible population has either already had a booster dose or is scheduled to get one soon. In Region Sjælland it has passed the 50% mark in getting people in its jurisdiction a 3rd COVID vaccine dose.
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Infections are rising in Greenland, which reported 204 new cases on Tuesday, and active cases have for the first time exceeded 600. Now new restrictions will come into force as of Wednesday night. Capacity in restaurants and bars has been cut in half and a coronapas is required to enter. Existing national restrictions will be extended to April 5.
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Sweden added 42,969 infections and another 20 pandemic deaths since its last update on Thursday.
On December 30, Sverige saw a record-high 11,507 positive tests topping the previous record of 11,376 set on December 23, 2020.
So far, 7,757,998 1st vaccine doses (85.9% of the population 12 years old and older) and 7,406,964 2nd doses (82%) have been administered. For the eligible population 18 years old and older with two doses, 30.4% have a booster shot.
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Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia tested positive for COVID on Monday night, according to a press release issued by the Royal Family. The release says both the King and Queen are fully vaccinated including both having a booster dose. They have mild symptoms and are isolating themselves while contact tracing is underway.
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The number of COVID infections has doubled in a week in both Sweden’s capital region and its most southern district. Region Stockholm saw 19,220 infections last week, a 99% increase from the week before.
Chief Physician Johan Bratt:
“We have seen a doubling of the number of people infected. There are almost 20,000 infected in one week and there are still no signs of a reduced spread of infection. This is a really worrying development.”
In Region Skåne there were 11,000 new COVID cases last week, double the number from the week prior.
Assistant Infection Control Doctor Birgitta Holmgren says the region had a positivity percentage of around 30% last week.
“In the 20-59 year old age group we saw the highest proportion of positive tests, but the number of infected increased across all ages. During Christmas week, the majority of infections were the Omicron variant and all signs point to that number continuing to increase.”
Holmgren warns as cases rise so will the pressure on an already strained hospital system in the region.
Johan Bratt says Region Stockholm is also in the same boat.
“We also note a clear increase in the number of patients with COVID in our hospitals. There are 38 more hospitalizations compared to last week. Unfortunately, we must assume that the increase will continue, as it usually takes a couple of weeks between a person being infected and the disease proving to be so serious that it requires hospital care.”
He says the healthcare system is on a slippery slope as staff become infected and head home sick, further exacerbating staffing shortages and adding to a system already under enormous strain.
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Finland registered 5,492 infections and seven more virus deaths since yesterday’s update.
So far, 77.4% of the total population have one vaccine dose, 73.8% have two, and 21.8% have a booster dose.
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Norway has added 2,980 infections and two more corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (304) have dropped (-21) while the number of people in an ICU (95) also declined (-13).
So far, 79.5% of Norwegians 12 years old and older have one vaccine dose, 72.7% have two, and 29.4% have had a booster shot.
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The Omicron variant is now the dominant corona strain in Norway, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. It says in the last week of the year 65.4% of all sequenced positive test results came back as being the new variant. The agency says in week 52 there were 6,143 new Omicron cases confirmed, an increase from the 5,195 the week before. But the NIPH says that probably doesn’t reflect the real situation.
Department Director Line Vold:
“The figures show a small increase in the Omicron variant through Christmas, but it is difficult to know whether these figures reflect the actual situation in the last couple of weeks. There has been significantly less testing than there would have been otherwise, and we will probably get a more accurate picture of the infection development now that the holidays are over.”
The NIPH says the Omicron variant is dominant in all regions of the country save one. Region Finnmark led the way, with Omicron making up 88.9% of all sequenced positive test results. You can see the breakdown by region below. Note that the agency cautions “The share for Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark is based on small figures and must be interpreted with caution.”
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For the first time in the pandemic the United Kingdom recorded over 200,000 new infections on Tuesday, 218,724 to be exact along with another 48 deaths.
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Canada has reported 35,618 new corona infections and 30 more pandemic deaths. These infections curves below nationally and for Ontario and Quebec are something else.
The Canadian vaccination effort has so far administered 31,657,694 1st vaccine doses (82.80% of the total population) and 29,388,106 people (76.86%) have two doses, and of those 7,501,468 have a booster dose.
In Ontario today there were 11,352 new infections on Tuesday. There are 1,290 people in hospital with 266 in an ICU.
Quebec reported 1,592 new COVID cases and another 21 fatalities.
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick has 746 new corona cases. PEI had a record high of 198. Newfoundland and Labrador had 493. Nova Scotia had yet to report Tuesday but recorded 1,020 cases on Monday.
Manitoba saw 1,757 new COVID cases and two more deaths on Tuesday.
Saskatchewan hasn’t provided a COVID update in the New Year as of yet.
Alberta hasn’t reported its COVID numbers since New Years Eve and will table its first update in four days later Tuesday afternoon.
B.C. has also yet to resume regular COVID reporting but pushed out a skeleton update on Monday saying there were 9,332 total infections over a three day period covering the weekend.