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Denmark allows travel to whole of Sweden

Ayee Macaraig
July 31st, 2020


This article is more than 4 years old.

Denmark lifts travel restrictions on the whole of Sweden and Portugal but discourages unnecessary trips to Romania

People in Denmark may now travel anywhere in Sweden (photo: Pixabay/Mariamichelle)

Danes may now travel to all Swedish regions as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs eased restrictions on its Scandinavian neighbour.

In its weekly advisory update, the ministry said on Thursday that it no longer advised against unnecessary travel to Sweden as well as Portugal. The announcement comes a day after Sweden allowed its citizens to travel to Denmark.

Denmark’s decision lifts all travel restrictions imposed on Sweden since the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe in March. Sweden is the last Nordic country Denmark is opening up to following Stockholm’s refusal to impose a hard lockdown.

Special ties
“We can now open up for trips to all of Sweden. Denmark and Sweden have special ties. Happy good, close cooperation with @AnnLinde,” said the Danish foreign minister, Jeppe Kofod, on Twitter, referring to his Swedish counterpart.

Linde replied to his tweet, “It is very good that both Sweden and Denmark can now travel to each other’s countries again. But still everyone must stay informed and follow the recommendations to keep their distance etc.”

Denmark’s updated travel advisory comes after Swedish authorities reported a drop in coronavirus cases. Sweden only saw 100 daily coronavirus infections in the last days of July compared to 1,000 new infections a day at the end of June.

Travel to Romania discouraged
In contrast, Denmark said it was discouraging unnecessary travel to Romania due to an “excessive number of infected people”.

Romania joins Bulgaria and Luxembourg in the list of countries where travel is advised against. Denmark also discourages unnecessary travel to Ireland due to its quarantine rules.

As for Spain, the ministry said that people traveling to Denmark from the regions of Aragón, Cataluña and Navarra are encouraged to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival. This is because these regions now have more than 50 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants per week.

Spain has seen its biggest daily jump in new coronavirus cases since ending a lockdown in June. This prompted some regions to impose new restrictions on movement and Britain to require a quarantine on travellers from Spain.


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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.”