46,000 new cases on Tuesday.
And yet, Denmark announced on Wednesday that it wanted to lift all its internal anti-Covid restrictions on February 1, deeming its high vaccination coverage sufficient in the face of the lesser severity of the Omicron variant.
If the government's plan receives the approval of a parliamentary committee later today, the Nordic country would become the first in the European Union to take the plunge despite the wave of the Omicron variant.
“I wish (…) that the categorization of Covid-19 as a disease threatening to society will be abolished from February 1, 2022”, wrote Minister of Health Magnus Heunicke in a letter addressed to Parliament.
No more sanitary passes, masks or early closings
The end of this designation leads de facto to the lifting of all national restrictions currently in force, such as the use of a health pass, the wearing of a mask or the early closing of bars and restaurants.
The Danish government only wants to maintain for four additional weeks certain restrictions on entering the territory, namely tests and/or quarantine depending on the country of origin.
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The Scandinavian kingdom had already lifted all restrictions on September 10, before reintroducing the health pass in early November and then introducing new restrictions.
“Recommended” isolation in the event of a positive test
Faced with a lower level of intensive care hospitalizations than in previous waves, several European countries such as France or the United Kingdom have announced considerable easing or the lifting of most of their restrictions in recent days, despite record or very high cases.
In England, the only legal restriction remaining from Thursday will be isolation for infected people.
In Denmark, it will remain "recommended" to isolate yourself for four days in the event of a positive test, according to the National Health Agency.
60% of Danes received their reminder
With more than 46,000 new cases on Tuesday, the contamination rate is extremely high in the Nordic country.
“But our current assessment is that the epidemic will soon reach its peak,” justified Minister Magnus Heunicke on Twitter.
"We have good control of hospitalization rates, thanks to the combination of the 3.5 million Danes now revaccinated and the milder nature of Omicron," he said.
Nearly 60% of the 5.8 million Danes received a booster dose, one month ahead of the schedule envisaged by the health authorities.
Hospitalizations on the rise
The number of hospitalizations due to Covid has continued to rise in recent days and has exceeded 900 patients, but health authorities believe they can cope with the burden.
At the beginning of January, the number of hospitalizations increased by only 16% for an increase in the number of new cases of 35%, they say.
In addition, the number of intensive care admissions has fallen from 74 at the start of January to 44 currently.
The National Health Agency estimates that 35% of people currently hospitalized with Covid are in hospital for another pathology.