COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark registered a record number of coronavirus infections on Monday, as cinemas, museums and other cultural institutions reopened after a month-long COVID-19 lockdown.
The Nordic country registered 28,780 new cases in the space of 24 hours and the number of coronavirus-related hospitalisations rose to 802, the highest in a year.
Still, health authorities said earlier this month that the now-predominant Omicron variant was milder than initially thought and that around 29% of those in hospital were there due to reasons other than COVID-19.
Since a peak of 82 on Jan. 6, the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has fallen steadily to 52 on Monday.
As a consequence, lawmakers last week agreed to ease restrictions, including reopening theatres, cinemas, museums, entertainment parks and botanic gardens, and allow limited spectators at indoor and outdoor sports events.
Denmark has high support for COVID-19 vaccination, with four out of five having received two jabs and just over half of the population with three jabs.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Alex Richardson)
