The Week That Was, March 30th – April 5th 2020:
Coronavirus/ What happened last week:
As of Sunday, 179 people had died in this country from the corona virus – 504 are now hospitalised as the figures fall, with 144 in intensive care.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the government would consider easing the lockdown after the Easter break if the coronavirus outbreak has stabilised and the public continues to ‘act responsibly’. She also acknowledged that the government’s decision-making process regarding the coronavirus isn’t always based on medical science but waiting for concrete evidence ‘could cost lives.’
The government was given a ‘corona boost’ by voters – according to the latest Voxmeter poll for Ritzau News Bureau, the Social Democrats would win an extra 10 seats if an election was held right now.
An overwhelming majority of the electorate believes the government has handled the corona crisis correctly – in a new survey 86.3% of voters agreed that the government has ‘done what’s necessary’ to slow the spread of the virus.
The head of the National Serum Institute, Kåre Mølbak, cast doubts on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations for how to curb the spread of the coronavirus – he said widespread testing and isolation will only ‘kick the can down the road’
April 1st, ’April Fools Day’, sadly became Jobless Day for many this year as 7,787 people joined the unemployment queue – 42.178 have filed for unemployment benefits since the corona crisis hit Denmark on March 9th.
The government now has the authority to ban public gatherings of more than two people after parliament passed the latest round of amendments to the epidemy bill.
Further emergency corona legislation was also passed Thursday, despite opposition from the Social Liberals and far-left Red/Greens who voted against a new law that allows far stiffer penalties for corona-related crime – TV2 analyst Troels Mylenberg said the two parties’ opposition signals the culmination of the political state of emergency.
The government’s parliamentary allies called for more focus on the climate as soon as the corona crisis eases off.
Italy made a formal request to Denmark for medical assistance to help fight the corona pandemic that’s ravaged the country.
The government’s strategy of granting multi-billion aid packages to businesses to ease the effects of the corona crisis is being followed with interest in the U.S. – in an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN, Finance Minister Nikolaj Wammen said that, already in the early days of the crisis, the government was very aware that the virus would be extremely damaging, not only to the health sector but for the whole economy.
A new study charting the number of deaths from covoid-19 in 11 European countries – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom – reported how restrictions imposed by governments could have saved the lives of up to 120,000 people.
Three Greenland cities imposed a ban on strong beers until April 15th to protect children forced to stay home during the corona crisis.
Foreign Affairs/EU:
Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod expressed concern about the Hungarian parliament’s decision to give Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the power to rule by decree during the corona crisis, which means MPs no longer have any say in the legislative process – Denmark joined 12 other EU countries in a joint statement expressing concern about the ‘risk of violations of the principles of rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights arising from the adoption of certain emergency measures.’
The Royal Danish Defence College will play an important role in redefining the role of NATO after Director for Strategy Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen was appointed to a panel of 10 experts by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this week.
A Danish diplomat and her family in China came under fire for, allegedly, violating local quarantine rules.
Former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen joined Citi Bank, the USA’s 3rd biggest bank, as a senior advisor in European, Middle East and Africa business, with a primary focus on the Nordic region.
Social Affairs:
Ten Danish hospitals are moving ahead with clinical trials of four existing medications that could treat the coronavirus, including the much-debated Chloroquine, primarily used to prevent and treat malaria.
54-year-old Dane Jens Rasmussen is one of thousands of tourists suing Austrian ski resort Ischgl, where the local authorities have been accused of covering up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak and keeping open despite the risk to people.
Danish smokers woke up to an unpleasant surprise on April 1st as the price of a packet of cigarettes rose to 55 kroner, a nearly 40% increase, costing the average ’packet a day’ smoker an extra DKK 5,475 per year.
Business:
In a pessimistic projection the National Bank warned the ‘boom has come to an abrupt end in early 2020’ and the export-driven economy will continue to suffer from weak demand from abroad, even after Danish society reopens – political commentator Hans Engel said the government will be guided by the latest health evaluations and not whether the crisis will cost five billion kroner more, or less.
The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority urged banks to keep hold of their capital to avoid weakening themselves during the pandemic
With signs that GDP (Gross Domestic Product) will shrink considerably this year due to the corona crisis, new revised data from Statistics Denmark showed Denmark’s economy grew more than initially estimated in the fourth quarter of 2019.
The Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen) launched a legal claim for DKK750m (€100m) against one of Denmark’s most renowned firm of lawyers, Bech Brun, for its role in the DKK12.7bn share dividend scandal .
And That Was the Week That Was, March 30th – April 5th 2020: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).