Denmark Plans to Reintroduce COVID Passports Amid Recent Surge to 'Make it Difficult' for Unvaxxed

© REUTERS / Dado RuvicA vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021
A vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 09.11.2021
Subscribe
The recently proposed measures are, in effect, a reversal of steps taken earlier this autumn, when Denmark became one of the first European nations to remove restrictions and demote COVID-19's threat level. Since then, however, the nation has been rocked by record infection figures unseen since 2020, which the prime minister blamed on the unvaxxed.
The Danish government has confirmed plans to reintroduce requirements that COVID-19 health passes be shown at bars, restaurants and public events.
The health pass will be required at indoor events with over 200 spectators and outdoors events with over 2,000 spectators.
Furthermore, the government supported once again upgrading COVID-19 to the status of “critical threat to society”, a step that allows restrictions, such as face mask mandates, assembly limits and lockdowns, to be introduced. This measure has been backed by the ruling Social Democrats' sidekicks: the Red-Green Alliance, the Socialist People's Party and the Social Liberal Party.
“We cannot let the virus run wild in Denmark”, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, as quoted by TV2.
At the same time, Frederiksen also called for more Danes to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“It can’t be said clearly enough. Those of you who are not yet been vaccinated: do so”, she emphasised. “For all of you who are unvaccinated, life is going to become more difficult. And that’s actually how I think it should be,” she added.

The prime minister's message was crystal clear: it's the unvaccinated that are largely to blame for the situation Denmark is in right now.

“There is a small group that doesn't play by the rules of the game in a pandemic. You bear a responsibility for the whole of Danish society right now,” Mette Frederiksen said.

Denmark currently has a Covid-19 vaccination rate of just over 75 percent.
The health pass documents a recent negative COVID-19 test or immunity against the virus due to vaccination or recent recovery from infection. The validity period for earlier infections will thus be reduced from one year to merely six months. Furthermore, the pass will be required from those over the age of 15, a change from the previous minimum age of 16.
The proposed measures are, in effect, a reversal of the steps made in September, when Denmark became one of the first European nations to wind down restrictions and demote COVID-19's threat level.
FILE PHOTO: Empty Maersk shipping containers are seen stacked at Peel Ports container terminal in Liverpool, Britain, December 9, 2016. - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.11.2021
'Invasive and Really Violent': Danish Trade Unions Berate Shipping Giant Maersk Over Vax Mandate
Since then, however, the Scandinavian nation has been swept by a COVID wave unseen since 2020.
Monday saw the fifth consecutive day with over 2,000 new cases in Denmark. On Monday alone, wholly 2,294 Danes tested positive for COVID, with a test positivity rate of 2.25 percent.
Given the recent development, numerous health professionals and medical professors called for the reintroduction of the health pass, along with the use of face masks and other restrictive measures, as a way of curbing infection “here and now”.
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала