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Something rotten in the state of Denmark: Most conclude ‘Shit Island’ to blame for almighty stench in capital

Ben Hamilton
August 13th, 2021


This article is more than 3 years old.

Bad timing ahead of the opening of Copenhagen 2021, the huge LGBTI+ event that opened yesterday and will continue until August 22

The culprit is an island just south of the city centre (photo: Rotsee)

Copenhagen 2021 has been six years in the making. Arguably the largest event to be organised in Denmark this century, it has involved the effort of thousands.

Yesterday it opened to the smell of a rotting stench in the air.

People were checking their shoes and their babies’ nappies and looking at one another in a peculiar fashion: “Have you just let one go?”

So it’s kind of fitting to confirm the source of the smell was none other than Amager, the aptly-named Shit Island’ to the city centre’s immediate south.

Farming activity to blame
Late yesterday, as hundreds, on both Danish and English-language websites, had pitched in with their theories – dredging the Lakes and a dodgy filter at Copenhill were popular theories – confirmation came through that farming activity on the island is to blame.

“Sorry, it’s us from Amager. There have been used fertilisers on the fields in the south end and the winds today are specially from that direction. It’s much worse here, believe me,” wrote a commenter on the Expats in Copenhagen Facebook page.

It is believed the smell originates from Tårnby, one of the municipalities on the island.

So yes, normally it’s a much hackneyed cliche, but today you can say it out loud: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. 


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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.”