Thanks to the success of the vaccination campaign, Denmark is the first EU country to lift all coronavirus restrictions and to completely go back to pre-pandemic daily life.
On August 13, Denmark had already lifted the mandatory mask requirement on public transportation, with ticket controllers cheerfully informing masked travelers they could get rid of their face masks. Today, the Nordic country is making further steps forward, with the decision of lifting all Covid-19 measures and going back to its pre-pandemic life. This achievement was partially possible thanks to the population’s high levels of trust in authorities and the consequent inoculation of more than 70% of its population.
At the end of August, the Danish health authorities declared that Covid19 did not pose a severe threat to the society, thanks to the great success of the vaccine rollout and the low number of cases and deaths. In a post on Twitter dated September 7, Danish health Minister Magnus Heunicke said, “The vaccines and the great efforts of all of Denmark’s citizens over such a long period are the foundation for why we are going strong.”
Starting from today, restaurants, sports venues, and nightclubs do not require the Covid pass anymore. Everything is back to normal: kids can go back to school and workers can go back to the office. Additionally, kids will not be sent home in case they enter into contact with a positive person. Quarantine is now mandatory only for those people who actually tested positive for Covid-19.
The return to normality is good news for the Danish population. Recently, visitors took advantage of the free entrance to the Glyptoteket art museum in Copenhagen, with only a few of them wearing a mask and almost no social distance. Already in late August, organizers were getting ready for the World Pride 2021, a gathering that attracted thousand of activists on the street of Copenhaggen.
The strong sense of responsibility of Danish society can be perfectly summarized with the Danish word “samfundssind” (More loosely translated as “community spirit” or “social mindedness” according to the BBC). Conversely, in many other European countries trust in authorities is significantly lower, which makes it very difficult to contain Covid-19.
