Denmark first in EU to lift all COVID-19 restrictions

Sep 15 2021

Denmark is set to be the first EU country to go back to pre-pandemic life this Friday as it lifts all remaining COVID-19 restrictions. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke tweeted this week, crediting the vaccines and the ‘great efforts of all of Denmark’s citizens over such a long period’ as the foundation for why the country is going strong. No COVID pass will be required to enter restaurant, night-clubs or other establishments as kids too no longer requiring to be sent home if they come into close contact with a confirmed case.

Quarantines are left only for those who are infected. The country scrapped the mask requirement for public transit on August 13th, and will now go on to fully seal the deal of measure easing. Almost three quarters of adults are fully vaccinated and COVID-19 hospitalisations are low, with a high level of trust in authorities reported. In fact, the word samfundssind, which translates to ‘social mindedness’, has become a bit of a buzzword in Denmark. Elsewhere in Europe, trust in governments to deal with the pandemic is significantly lower, leading to lower vaccination rates.

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Photo Source: Schengen Visa, Anna Shvets

Campaign against influenza to introduce spray vaccinations for kids

Sep 15 2021

Addressing a press conference, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne announced that the campaign of vaccination against influenza will be kicked off in the second half of October. The minister reported how in 2020, a record breaking 180,000 influenza vaccinations were administered and that 200,000 more are ordered for the next rollout.

Fearne also announced that, in order to push for more vaccinations against the virus, a spray will be introduced for children which will replace the jab. This will hopefully incentivise more people to get immunised against influenza. This campaign will work side by side with the COVID-19 vaccination campaign which has seen 91% of those eligible fully vaccinated.

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Photo Source: Health Magazine, Sahha FB

Relaxed measures for establishments who choose to welcome only vaccinated individuals

Sep 15 2021

In a press conference addressed by Health Minister Chris Fearne earlier today at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre, a number of amendments to the current COVID-19 measures were reported. This include changes to measures regarding quarantine from dark-red countries, establishments restrictions and more.

Establishments who have voluntarily decided that they will only welcome vaccinated individuals will have a relaxed set of COVID-19 restrictions.

Measures may include eased restrictions such as less distance between tables and the possibility extended opening and closing times. A legal tender will be published in the coming days which will reveal further details regarding the relaxing of measures.

You can watch the full press conference below:

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Fully vaccinated Maltese residents can quarantine in their homes starting Friday

Fully vaccinated Maltese residents can quarantine in their homes starting next Friday

Sep 15 2021

Speaking at a press conference, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne announced that persons coming from countries listed as dark red who have a vaccine certificate and are Maltese residents will be able to quarantine in their own homes. This can only happen if all the other residents in the household are fully vaccinated in order to avoid putting others at risk. This will come into effect as of next Friday 17th September 2021.

This comes as the focus shifts from the Delta variant onto the MU variant, which also lead to countries like Russia and India to have their status as dark red countries revisited. Friday will also see the acceptance of the Canadian vaccine certificate, with those travelling with said certificate not needing to quarantine.

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Photo Source: Sahha FB