Valmira Gjoni & Nathan Walmer
March 25th, 2020

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Easter lunch is officially postponed! (Photo: jchapiewsky)

When the government advised the Danish public to stay home, perhaps it should have specified which home, as many Danes would appear to have retreated to their summerhouses over the past fortnight.

Despite the warnings, there are reportedly 10,000 more visitors in the summerhouse areas of Odsherred Municipality and Tuse Næs at Isefjord than is normal for this time of year, according to TV2 Øst.

And with the Easter break on the way, the government fears that many more Danes will also soon be travelling across the country, taking the coronavirus with them.

Drop those Easter lunch plans!
In a Facebook post on Tuesday night, PM Mette Frederiksen remarked that restrictions on domestic travel might be on the way if Danes don’t stay at home.

The PM stressed the importance of people not widely travelling around Denmark, advising Danes to drop any plans they might have of reuniting the whole family over Easter lunch.

Frederiksen’s warning followed an admission from Søren Brostrøm, the head of the Sundhedsstyrelsen health authority, told TV2 that a real regional travel ban “is in the works”.

According to Trine Mogensen, a professor who specialises in infectious diseases at Aarhus University, increased travel activity helps to spread the coronavirus from the worst-hit areas around the capital to areas not too badly affected.

Youngest victim of coronavirus was 50; average age of victims is 80
The average age among the 34 people killed by the coronavirus in Denmark was 80, and so far, the youngest victim has been 50, reports the Statens Serum Institut. Given the vulnerability of elderly people, 73 percent of infected people over the age of 70 have been hospitalised. Additionally, of the 526 people admitted to hospital so far, 57 percent had chronic diseases. So far 24 of the victims have been men.

Wave of positivity for shares in US and Denmark
The C25 index shot up on Tuesday (March 24), experiencing the biggest gain since its creation in December 2016. In total, the index of the country’s 25 leading shares rose 4.1 percent – buoyed by the news of the 1-2 trillion dollar financial aid package announced by the US, which led to 11.37 percent rise in the Dow Jones index and 8.12 percent increase on the Nasdaq index. Certainly the wind turbine manufacturer Vestas was a big beneficiary, and its shares accordingly rose 11.3 percent, Maersk jumped 9 percent.

Understanding for employees with children
The Association of Primary School Parents calls for understanding and asks the country’s employers to understand and accept that their employees’ work performance cannot be as before. Full-time home-based work and homeschooling at the same time have put many parents under pressure –especially after the government’s announcement for an additional extension until April 13. The shutdown might affect children and parents at the same time. As a solution to the current situation, the chair of the Association of Primary School Parents, Cecilia Lucia Fava, suggests an initiation of dialogue  between parents and employers – and also between parents and teachers to remove the pressure from parents right now.

Odense Municipality sends home 327 employees
Almost a tenth of all the employees in the elderly and disabled administration in Odense Municipality have been sent home on sick leave in connection with the coronavirus. In total there are 327 employees absent out of 3,500 in relation to the disease. The highest numbers of the absences, a total of 236 employees, have shown coronavirus-related symptoms, while the rest are employees who have recently returned after travelling to a risk area. The shortage in personnel has slowed down care. However, the administration remains confident it can continue to help and offer its facilities.

Unemployment numbers jump again
The Board of Labour and Recruitment has announced in a statement that 42,847 people registered as unemployed in the period from March 9-24. This period of time has seen the further spread of coronavirus amidst a pandemic and the subsequent shutting down of operations by many private companies and public institutions. On Tuesday March 24 alone, 3,096 people registered unemployed – though this was down from the previous Tuesday when 4,082 people registered. The Ministry of Employment on its website states that “on a normal Tuesday, there are 1,158 people” that register. The government has recently initiated a series of financial aid packages in order to assist companies in paying part of their employees’ salary for a length of time.