Denmark sets new infection records daily. On Saturday, 1840 new cases of omicron infection were registered in the country. The increase is 44 percent from the day before. This is stated by the Danish Infection Control Agency Statens Serum Institut (SSI).
On Friday, SSI director Henrik Ullum warned of a sharp increase in the omicron infection in the country.
– The number of omicron cases has risen sharply since yesterday, so the spread of infection is unfortunately very fast right now. I would therefore once again strongly urge everyone who has been summoned for vaccination to hurry up and book an appointment. Because even though there are indications that the vaccines do not work so well against being infected with omicron, we expect that the vaccines still protect well against becoming seriously ill. It is our strongest weapon right now, he said in Friday’s report.
Closes nightlife and alcohol sales
The rising infection rates are causing the government to tighten, and on Friday several new measures were introduced in the country. Nightlife closes, the bandage requirement is extended and both home office and home school are encouraged.
– Next week we may have a problem that we can get so many cases of omicron that it affects the total cases of infection in Denmark, says Professor Mads Albertsen at Aalborg University.
Can dominate
Albertsen describes the development as “worrying” and points out that the development has been very fast. The first two omicron cases in Denmark were confirmed on 28 November, after the infected had been in South Africa. Since then, the variety has spread rapidly.
– When Alfa and Delta came, it also went fast. But that development took weeks. Now it takes days. It’s very special to see that it’s really going so fast, he says to Danish TV 2.
According to Albertsen, the number of infected will be strongly dominated by the omicron variant within a few weeks.
The alarm goes off: Fear huge wave of infection
In Denmark, the omicron variant is widespread in the age group 20-29, where more than a third of cases have been found. While the latest virus variant is considerably more contagious than previous variants, the course of the disease is unknown. It is thus uncertain whether omicron can lead to more serious infections and more hospitalizations.
– If it follows the current development, it will probably take one to two weeks before omikron will account for more than half of the infections in Denmark, says Albertsen.
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Affects children
Doctor and epidemiologist Gunhild Alvik Nyborg believes that it is likely that the omicron variant causes more serious illness in children.
– It is still very early, and we know little about omikron. But there are many indications that the omicron variant affects children to a greater extent than previous virus variants. In South Africa, it is reported that children under the age of 12 come to hospital to receive oxygen, Nyborg has previously told Dagbladet.
On Wednesday, the government in Denmark decided that primary school students will have home schooling until 5 January. Nyborg now recommends that the Norwegian government do the same.
– It can prove to be an extremely important infection control measure, which I strongly recommend that be introduced in Norway as well – either in the form of extended holidays or the transition to digital education. As it stands now, the risk associated with keeping schools open is much greater than it was before.
Theory: The pandemic over after omicron
I without risk assessment FHI mentions the reports of an increase in hospitalizations of children as a result of omikron, but states that they currently have limited confidence in the finding and its relevance to Norwegian conditions. FHI adds that they will follow new information closely.
“So far, it is unlikely that covid-19 from omicron infection will become significantly more serious, or that the factors that protect children against severe covid-19 are no longer effective,” writes FHI.
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:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/PSWP7RATZJFBXE2PX6QFDCWO7M.jpg "“Migrants who transit through border areas will be vaccinated”: Ministry of Health")
