Last Week in Denmark (22.08 - 29.08) Episode 27
End of nurses strike; 90% vaccinated; Citizenship exam; Speeding fines
Public Health HQ
Status: 75% of the population has been vaccinated (4.392.672 people). 70,5% of the population has received the second vaccine shot (4.127.730 people). 83,2% have received Pfizer/BioNTech; 12,3% Moderna; 3,4% AstraZeneca and 1,1% Janssen. The region with the highest vaccination rate - North Denmark.
Corona infection status: There is an average of 1000 new infected people every day. 126 people are hospitalized. The five municipalities with the highest rate of infection are: Ishøj, Brøndby, Herlev, Gladsaxe and Glostrup. Check out more data here.
Travel Guidelines: The ministry of Foreign Affairs, updates every week (on Saturday) the travel guidelines, by dividing the world into three colors (red, yellow and green). This week's changes - Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Sweden (except Southern Sweden), Germany (except Schleswig-Holstein) and Austria became yellow. If you travel from a yellow country to Denmark, you need to have a corona pass (vaccinated, infected before or recently tested).
Statens Serum Institut, will begin human trials of the “Danish Corona vaccine” at the beginning of 2022. The tests will take place at Hvidovre hospital. Although it is developed by Danish scientists, the vaccine will be produced in the USA, as Denmark doesn’t have production facilities.
90% vaccinated until 1st October: The government launched 5 initiatives to increase the speed of vaccination.
Pop-up vaccination sites at all educational institutions in the country.
Pop-up vaccination sites in vulnerable housing areas.
Drop-in without appointment at all vaccination sites.
Carrying out vaccination at selected workplaces.
Targeted communication, campaigns and information on vaccination are strengthened.
End of the volunteer vaccination program: From 1st of September, it will no longer be possible to choose vaccination with AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson. The remaining stock of Johnson & Johnson, will be distributed to individuals, which are not covered by the Danish vaccination program, against a fee.
Health minister, Magnus Heunicke stated: “The epidemic is under control, we have record high vaccination rates. Therefore, on September 10, we can drop some of the special rules we have had to introduce in the fight against covid-19. The government has promised not to hold on to the measures any longer than was necessary, and there we are now. But even though we are in a good place right now, we are not out of the epidemic. And the government will not hesitate to act quickly if the pandemic again threatens important functions in our society.”
Danish Politics HQ
End of the nurses strike: After 10 weeks of protests for higher salary, the nurses strike is over. The government decided to intervene (after many calls from the regional governments and patients) and a large majority in the Parliament forced the nurses to accept the proposed 5% salary increase. The intervention is not something usual, as according to the Danish model, salaries are negotiated between employers and employees. The nurses are very unhappy with intervention and announce consequences. The strike postponed more than 35,000 surgeries.
Flag debacle in Slagelse: It involves a LGBT+ rainbow flag waved from Slagelse City Hall, a very angry deputy mayor from Liberal Alliance and the ever-lasting question - what flags can be put on the public flagpoles? “A discussion for the next City Council '' said the mayor.
Afghanistan evacuation: 908 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan by Danish planes, while 80 have been evacuated by planes from other countries. Denmark has also evacuated more than 100 people from the United States, Greece, France, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, as well as Afghans on behalf of France, Sweden and Iceland. Work is continuing to evacuate the remaining 83 people (42 Afghan citizens and 41 on the Danish list) with planes from other countries.
Speeding fines: The government proposed to increase the speeding fines by 20%. The proposal has been sent out for public consultation and is scheduled to be presented during the opening week of the Parliament. If adopted, the increased fines will take effect on 1st January 2022.
Citizenship exam: The preparation material for the citizenship exam has been updated. Unlike the previous material, which wasn’t changed since 2015, the new material will be updated yearly. New themes on relevant political issues such as climate, health, gender equality, recent Danish foreign policy, anti-Semitism and other extremism have been added. The next citizenship exam is on 24th November 2021.
Hard-working grade: The minister for early education proposed a new grade to reward the young students that try very hard at school. The idea behind the grade is to reward diligence, regardless of how skilled you become as a result of that hard work. That idea received a negative initial feedback from both students and teachers.
Danish Economy HQ
Danish Customs: The agency announced an income of 3.1 billion dkk. 62% of the income comes from charged duties on products coming from China.
Reduced municipal tax: 7 municipalities (Ballerup, Frederikssund, Kalundborg, Kerteminde, Norddjurs, Samsø, Vesthimmerland) can apply for subsidies to reduce municipal tax (part of the income tax). People living here will pay less tax.
Increased municipal tax: 10 municipalities (Gentofte, Helsingør, Hillerød, Greve, Solrød, Lejre, Fanø, Horsens, Skanderborg, Aarhus) need to increase the municipal tax (part of income tax) to cover their losses in the equalization reform. People living here will pay more tax.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
UEFA President’s Award: Denmark’s football team captain Simon Kjær and the medical team that saved the life of Christian Eriksen received the 2021 UEFA President's Award. The accolade is an homage for their contributions in coming to Eriksen’s aid when the 29-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field during Denmark’s UEFA EURO 2020 group stage match.
Sleeping pill abuse: The National Health Agency will set up a working group to create new guidelines on the usage of the sleeping pill, after it was discovered that it’s usage among children (under 18) has doubled since 2011. Also, the number of young adults (18-24) using sleeping pills has increased five times. Melatonin, the main ingredient in a sleeping pill, is a natural sleep hormone produced by the body to regulate your sleep. It is used as treatment for people with sleep disorders, ADHD and autism.
Rural Award 2021: Until 10th of September, you can nominate a candidate for the Rural Award 2021, by sending a mail to simfre@erst.dk. Do you know someone that puts a lot of effort in developing the local community?
Denmark’s best burger: Sour, sweet, salty and bitter, this is the recipe for the best burger in Denmark, according to Peter Kolos from Hungry Dane, winner of Denmark's Best Burger 2021. As Peter Kolos says, the secret to the best burger lies in its simplicity. Check out his tricks and recommendations here.
Rabbit plague: With the first outbreak in Albertslund and now spread through several parts of the capital area, rabbit plague is a highly contagious and deadly virus, especially for non vaccinated rabbits. Currently there is no treatment for rabbit plague. Thus, it is recommended to vaccinate your rabbits. Check out the symptoms of rabbit plague here.
Easy Park reported to the police: The Consumer Ombudsman reported Easy Park to the police for violating the Marketing Act's prohibition against deception for applying hidden fees (of 15%) on top of the parking price through the Easy Park's app.
Watch out for scam text messages: A new wave of scam messages appears to be sent out from SSI (Statens Serum Institut) which aime to obtain your user ID and password to NemID. SSI warns citizens against fake SMS, containing links and asking for your private data.
The World in 2021 HQ
AirBnB: “Starting today, Airbnb will start housing 20,000 Afghan refugees globally for free.” said Brian Chemsky, the CEO of Airbnb. The company will coordinate with Airbnb hosts who want to offer their homes to refugees for free, or at a discounted rate, with the charitable organisation picking up the rest of the bill, as well as any other operational expenditures.
USA, California to pay drug addicts to stay sober: a practice that has been successfully applied in regard to the military veterans appears to be most effective in stopping drug use like cocaine and methamphetamine. The so-called “contingency management” would be funded through Medicaid covering nearly 14 million people in California.
YouTube has removed more than a million videos with "dangerous coronavirus misinformation" since the beginning of the pandemic. In a blog post, YouTube writes that it is dependent on experts, including from the World Health Organization, WHO , and the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to combat misinformation.
European Union HQ
Poland’s wall: The Polish government announced a 2.5 meters tall fence along the border with Belarus. Why? According to the officials, too many migrants attempt to enter the country that way. The fence will be heavily policed - the number of border guards has increased and 900 soldiers have been stationed there.
A second Scottish independence referendum: Cabinet minister Michael Gove did not rule out the possibility for a second referendum if there is clearly a will among the Scots. Will of at least 60% of the population (which currently stays at 40-42%), says the politician.
Climate change to blame for Europe’s floods: Scientists say that climate change worsened Europe’s flooding that brought devastation in parts of Belgium and Germany. A study shows that climate change was the major driver in the increase of extreme weather, including heavy rainfall.
Michel Barnier France’s next president? The EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator is making his bid for France's top job 2022. Not an official candidate yet, but he has the experience, Barnier served four times as a cabinet minister and twice as an EU commissioner. The Les Républicains party is set to decide on whether it will hold a primary contest during its party conference next month.
Until Next Week
The first edition (after the break) of Until Next Week brings you just enough events organized all over Denmark that can fill up your whole September. It’s actually called Welcome September and more than 65 partners joined forces to create all kinds of events both physical and online about work life, culture, social and everything else you can think of.
Some of the events range from job search seminars to how the taxes work in Denmark and buying real estate, to boardgames and company visits, from your rights in regards the upcoming local elections to sports activities and much, much more.
Our partners from the International House North Denmark have also helped organize some of the events happening in North Denmark. Check out their Facebook page for all their interesting events!