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Italy asks Denmark for help in coronavirus struggle
Christian Wenande
April 3rd, 2020
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This article is more than 4 years old.
Assistance will depend on the situation in Denmark, contends foreign minister
The situation is dire in Italy (photo: Pixabay)
Earlier this week, several parties in Parliament expressed a desire for Denmark to offer help to Italy, which continues to lead Europe’s coronavirus statistics in terms of the number of deaths and confirmed cases.
Now, the Italians themselves have reached out to the Danes for a contribution to their material and health competencies.
But while the government is open to assisting the Italians, the foreign minister, Jeppe Kofod, doesn’t want the move to undermine Denmark’s own capacity to tackle the pandemic.
“Whether we have an opportunity to help is dependent on specific evaluations from the relevant authorities,” Kofod told TV2 News.
“We take every call for help from other countries very seriously, and I will ask the authorities to evaluate whether we have the capacity to help in any way.”
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Experts doubtful
However, several leading doctors have told TV2 News that Danish help is unrealistic because the pandemic is still in its early phase and it would be irresponsible to water down the country’s capacity at this time.
Over 13,000 people have died in the pandemic in Italy so far and the country’s heath system is struggling to cope. Around 8.7 percent of the confirmed cases in Italy are health workers.
Several other countries, such as Russia, China and Albania, have already sent some form of assistance to Italy.
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