Denmark: – Good news about omikron
Large parts of Europe were hit by another wave of infections when the omicron variant of coronavirus was discovered in late November.
In Denmark, where the variant quickly became dominant, the infection increased sharply. Recently, between 25,000 and 28,000 daily cases of infection have been registered – an infection pressure that makes Denmark end up on the list among the countries with the most infections in Europe.
But even though Danes still set new infection records, the statistics still give cause for optimism.
– The pandemic will end
Did not explode
Denmark has long had the same corona strategy as Norway, with the main goal of slowing the spread of infection to avoid straining the health care system.
However, after omikron became dominant, they have set a positive trend in terms of pressure on health care. For despite an increase in the number of cases of infection recently, the number of admissions to intensive care patients has not increased to the same degree, a new report from the Regions’ Clinical Quality Development Program (RKKP).
The report shows that it was like many inpatients in the country’s intensive care units at the end of December as in May and June. From 1 March to 1 July, there were an average of 266 corona patients at Denmark’s hospital. From November 29 to January 3, the number was 280.
In addition, there were 281 inpatients on 31 May compared to 280 in mid-December, according to Extra Bladet.
– Optimistic
Professor and chief physician at the intensive care unit at the Danish National Hospital, Anders Perner, believes the results are uplifting.
– It is very likely that the omicron variant will give us significant challenges in the intensive care units, he says to Danish DR.
The contagion jump around Christmas and New Year has also not resulted in as many hospitalized corona patients as one would put with a similar infection rate with the delta variant, he explains.
Rejects “infection party strategy”
– If omikron had been as a delta, then there would have been twice as many hospitalized in the intensive care units now, and it would continue to increase in the next few weeks, says the superior and adds:
– We are optimistic – and perhaps more optimistic than we have dared to be in recent weeks.
However, there are several experts who believe that it is too early to draw conclusions between omikron and hospitalizations.
– One misinterprets that omikron is milder than delta. That is enough, but it is also much more contagious, so we will see ten times as many infected and therefore many more hospitalized, said among others professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases at the hospital in Hvidovre, Thomas Benfield, last week.
Camilla Holten Møller, head of department at the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the Danes’ answer to the National Institute of Public Health, also says that it may be too early to conclude. Among other things, she points out that there is still a “tail of delta patients” in Denmark.
– So it’s too early to see how the picture changes when the omicron variant dominates among the inlays. But something may indicate that we will see even fewer posts, as the omicron variant dominates the posting picture completely, she said in a press release January 8th.
– It’s incredibly hard
Like the flu
On Thursday, SSI publishes a report comparing the corona situation with the flu.
– Although the infection with omicron is high, society is moving towards milder conditions that can be compared to the flu. We are moving towards a flu-like pattern where the strategy will be the same. We can not prevent infection in the population, but we can make sure to protect the most vulnerable from becoming seriously ill, says director of SSI, Tyra Gove Krause, according to Danish TV 2.
Earlier in January, Grove Krause stated that she believes that Danes can already live as normal a month, because omikron is the way out of the pandemic.