Denmark’s nightmare: Omicron outbreak on top of Delta outbreak | Corona virus what you need to know

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) introduced Sunday afternoon notice Of the 766 confirmed cases of the omikron variant in the European Union. The number of cases in Denmark reached 195. No other country in the European Union has had more, while Denmark is in the middle group in terms of population.

The Statins Serum Institute of the Danish Institute of Health presented In an update yesterday afternoon Note that the number has now increased to 2471 cases. According to Danish Professor Mads Albertsen – who heads a center for DNA sequencing at Aalborg University – 15 percent of all infections are involved. With the total number of new infections, Denmark is already in the top five in Europe.

These numbers are set to rise even faster in the coming days. Expectations are for Omicron by Tuesday (Tomorrow is red.It will account for more than half of the cases,” Albertsen said on social media.

According to a Statens Serum Institute report, there are already at least 27 corona patients in Danish hospitals using the omikron variant. 19 of them tested positive before they arrived at the hospital or within 48 hours of their arrival, and the rest later tested positive.

The numbers of hospitalizations and deaths are still well below last winter’s peak, but the question is whether this will still be the case as the omicron variable progresses. Omicron has now been in the country for about two weeks, which is the time when the first corona patients reach hospitals after infection.

American immunologist Anthony Leonardi previously warned of the dangers of the so-called “double-surge”: in this case an omicron outbreak on top of a delta outbreak. Biostatistician Geert Mullenbergs confirms Denmark’s unenviable development.

“In Denmark, the last restrictive measures were lifted on 9/11,” he says. “All I saw was devices to sanitize your hands. Face masks were fixed, so were the Covid Safe Ticket and muscle testing policy to some extent, which the government kept everything under control. Until then, Denmark had let life go more or less as usual, but those who They wanted to participate sometimes had to test up to three times a week. That’s busy. Until they thought the numbers were low enough.”

In September, the numbers continued to rise somewhat, but very gradually. Just like with us. “The idea was that it would continue to go up a little bit, but it was pretty much under control,” the biostatistician said. Especially since the vaccination rate was high. At the time it was about 70 percent. But the numbers kept rising, faster and faster. They are now at the 1103 occurrence. A while ago, they reintroduced some measures – like the Covid Safe Ticket – and started testing more. But now it is too high. And now there’s an omicron on top of it. It’s really difficult.”

The nuance here is that the numbers are related to the extent of the state’s monitoring of the Corona case. For example, the United Kingdom is the undisputed champion of the sequence (To determine the type of virus in samples, ed.). “In the last 14 days, the British have arranged and published about 17,000 sequences. There are countries in Europe where there are only a few dozen. So it is possible that omikron is already more prevalent in other countries, but we simply have less insight into it. Denmark has also been Always among those tested extensively. So this will also play a role. But that’s what it is. And if omikron starts to spread, the variant is ever dominant. We’ve also seen this in South Africa. It’s happening at an unbelievable speed preceded by “.

Incidentally, our country is also doing well in the field of sequencing, according to Mullenbergs. “Since the beginning of the pandemic. You can’t compete with the British, but we are among the best in our class in terms of succession. We have a very good view of the omikron. By the way, you can also see the variant expand with us.“

In fact, the potential “double boom” is one reason experts have been warning all along of high corona rates and are stuck on a high plateau. “Outbreaks can run on top of each other,” says Molenberghs. “Anyone with the delta variant can get reinfected with omicron. Omikron appears to be a little milder, but that’s not a safe passage. It still means ‘disease’ and because of the very rapid spread, omicron can That puts a lot of pressure on the hospital system.”

Denmark took some new measures last week: the Christmas holidays were brought forward, restaurants and cafes had to close midnight since Friday, and dance halls had to close completely. A maximum of fifty visitors may be present in the concert halls. Remote work is recommended and birthday parties are not encouraged. “Hopefully, the curve will fade soon,” says Professor Albertsen. “The measures will have a limiting effect, but I’m not sure if it will be enough.”

Meanwhile, Denmark has also decided to give a booster dose of the corona vaccine earlier to all residents aged 40 and over. The Danish government announced this today. They will be able to get a third dose 4.5 months after the corona shots, instead of after six months. By setting the time period between the two doses, “we will be able to enter winter with better protection for those at risk of serious disease, and with increased immunity within the population,” the report said. Danish Public Health Agency.

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