With envious self-confidence, the Danish government lifted all corona measures in one fell swoop on Tuesday. The Danes threw off their masks and celebrated Liberation Day in September, just like last year. Nightlife was allowed to open again, a corona pass does not have to be shown anywhere anymore. It is possible that the Danes will retrace their steps in a while. In any case, their decisiveness contrasts sharply with the trepidation with which the Dutch government decided at the end of January “after long deliberation” to “examine the limits of what is possible”, “at the risk that our yo-yo policy will be reintroduced in a few weeks’ time.” is blamed”. Where for Prime Minister Rutte and his cabinet were mainly “cries for help”, “actions” and “emotion” reasons to give catering, theaters and other locations permission to reopen – limited -, the Danish government established without hesitation that Covid- 19 could no longer be classified as a ‘danger to society’ and that there was therefore no longer any reason to impose restrictions on citizens.
The Danes do not see the release of all measures as a ‘risk’, as Prime Minister Rutte called the Dutch relaxation, but as a well-considered and rational decision, based on thoroughly collected and studied data. In the week before the reopening, the number of patients with a positive test in Danish hospitals fell to a thousand, in the ICUs to under 40. Most were primarily because of a condition other than corona.
The Danes can in no way be accused of naivety, the way they monitor the corona virus commands respect. They have three times as many test streets as the Netherlands (433 versus 155) while the population is three times smaller (5.8 million versus 17.4 million). Infections are detected early and isolated, their contacts traced. Every positive test is examined in a central lab to identify the virus variant. For example, the Danes were there at lightning speed last year when the Delta variant was on the rise.
Compare that with the faltering and overloaded GGDs in the Netherlands, and the fragmentation of laboratories. Those who wanted to make a test appointment in recent weeks often encountered the announcement that there was no more room. Source and contact research doesn’t seem to be getting much anymore. The registration of the test results at the RIVM is also failing. The backlog rose to over 100,000 positive tests. The Netherlands has lost sight of the virus, that much is clear.
It is not the case that the Danes have completely eradicated Covid-19 with their thorough monitoring of the virus. In the week before the country closed, there were still more than 43,000 new infections per day. But the Danes know with more certainty when they really have to intervene and are also better prepared for it. Think of the booster campaign, which only got off to a painful start in the Netherlands.
In the Netherlands, confidence in corona policy has continued to decline, but not in Denmark. Even when the Danish government implements a ‘yo-yo policy’ – dropping rules and reintroducing them after a few months – most Danes follow what is asked of them. By always detecting and isolating infections at an early stage, fewer restrictions were needed for the rest of the population. If the Netherlands also wants this, it will require substantial investments in a testing, lab and vaccination structure that can be scaled up and down quickly. But that can increase confidence in corona policy boost give, and that’s worth something.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of February 4, 2022