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COVID-19

Denmark registers highest number of new coronavirus cases for two months

91 new cases of coronavirus were registered by health authorities in Denmark on Thursday, the highest daily infections figure in the country since May 18th.

Denmark registers highest number of new coronavirus cases for two months
A significant proportion of new Covid-19 cases in Denmark are linked to the Danish Crown meat plant in Ringsted. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The latest daily total from national infectious disease institute SSI shows the increase, which follows 57 new cases registered on Wednesday and 30 on Tuesday.

Average daily new Covid-19 infections in Denmark have crept up throughout July. The week commencing July 5th saw an average of 18 new cases per day. That had increased to 41 by last week.

The latest daily total from national infectious disease institute SSI shows a decrease of one in the number of hospitalised patients.

Three fewer people are hospitalised with Covid-19 than yesterday. That figure now stands at 18. Of the hospitalised patients, three are in ICU care and all three are receiving ventilator treatment.

One new death from Covid-19 was also registered by SSI. The total number of deaths with the virus since the start of the epidemic in Denmark is 615.

Increasing daily infections in the country coincide with an outbreak at a Danish Crown meat processing plant in Ringsted, Zealand.

Danish Crown said on Tuesday that three members of staff at its processing facility had tested positive. The figure increased to 16 on Wednesday and was today reported to stand at 32 cases in total.

Although today's total is high compared to recent numbers, there is no immediate cause for alarm, according to Jens Lundgren, professor of infectious disease at Copenhagen’s Rigshospitalet.

“The number is concerning of course, but it is not surprising with the outbreak in Ringsted, which there is currently a hotspot with many new cases of infection,” Lundgren told Ritzau.

 

“But there is no sign of a trend towards spread throughout the country. At the same time, there is a low number of hospital admissions, so I see no reason to be worried when looking at today's figures in isolation,” he said.

“But it is clear that this is a sign that things can develop quickly and it will be important to follow the development in August when many people will come home from summer holidays abroad,” the professor added.

Danish Crown expects to have tested and received results by the beginning of next week for all staff potentially affected by the cluster of infections at the Ringsted plant.

“The new cases of infection are persons who were in contact with people who were found infected earlier in the week, but it is of course serious,” the company’s head of press communications Jens Hansen told Ritzau.

A mobile Covid-19 testing centre has been set up at the site by health authorities.

The Ringsted plant has about 900 employees. They will be tested weekly for the next seven weeks in a measure designed to bring the outbreak under control.

More than 100 employees at the facility have been asked to stay home from work because they have been in close contact with one or more infected people.

READ ALSO: Face masks still not necessary in Denmark: health agency director

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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