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COVID-19 antibody findings suggest there have been three times more cases than officially declared

Orsolya Albert
February 10th, 2021


This article is more than 3 years old.

One in eleven have been infected by the coronavirus according to data obtained from blood donors – officially, the proportion is one in 29

Back with a vengeance (photo: Pixabay)

Nearly one in ten people in Denmark have been infected with the coronavirus over the last year, if the recent findings of the national blood donor register are anything to go by.

All blood donations are routinely tested for COVID-19 and its antibodies, and it has found that 8 percent of all donors have them.

This is a sharp rise from the 2 percent who had them during the first wave of the pandemic.

The concentration of those with antibodies was highest in the Capital Region (over 10 percent), followed by the North Jutland region.

Following the pandemic
Donors were asked whether they have already received the vaccine and, if they had,  they were not included in the 8 percent.

The data helps the authorities to track the course of the pandemic.

They are constantly analysing blood donations in order to ensure their safety, but this method also allows for understanding the spread of the virus in society.

According to the official figures, 202,887 people in Denmark have been infected with the coronavirus, which corresponds to one in 28-29 people – less than 4 percent of the population.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”