Denmark is the southernmost country in Scandinavia. The population, according to the latest Danmarks Statistik, is 5 million 800 thousand people, about half of Moscow. The country borders on Germany, Sweden and Norway, but in the “coronavirus” issue, its path can be considered unique.
To begin with, Denmark introduced a response to the pandemic on March 12, quite quickly, after identifying 500 people with coronavirus infection (and not a single death at that time). Danish measures were officially called "half-containment measures" - kindergartens, schools, restaurants, bars, hairdressers and gyms, meetings of more than ten people were closed.
But on the streets of spring Copenhagen, familiar life did not stop for a second. At lunchtime, people sit on benches, lawns, in squares, eating a Danish branded black currant - a sandwich of rye bread with butter and fillings of chicken, beef, salmon and vegetables, fish, drink beer on parapets and simply squint happily in the sun. Masks are not worn in stores or in schools.
The only place in Denmark where you can see masked people (except for hospitals and nursing homes) is on the faces of doctors who test for COVID-19 in street tents. While there are only a few in Copenhagen. However, if at the first stage in Denmark only patients with moderate or severe symptoms were tested, from April 1, screening is also done for people with mild symptoms.
The police website Politi.dk regularly updates official data on coronavirus and reminds the population about hygienic and social principles of distance: wash your hands often, use water-alcohol gel, cough and sneeze on your elbow, avoid shaking hands, kisses, hugs. And reminds - with Scandinavian emancipation - of the importance of sex, which is "an important human need that can be useful for your mental health in difficult times." Wash your hands and sex toys, reminds Danish police. Try, as they say, to submit such recommendations on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
But at the same time - attention! - The Danish government recommended its citizens not to wear masks. That is, not that "allowed not to wear." And recommended NOT to wear. This rule has been posted on the Danish Health Authority website.
Here is a quote from this site: “The Danish Health Agency does not recommend healthy people to wear masks in everyday life. On the one hand, because we don’t know whether they have an influence on the transmission of the virus, on the other hand, we want to avoid exhaustion of masks where they are needed: in hospitals and nursing homes. In addition, you should know how to use the mask correctly. We also do not recommend sewing or making a mask on our own. ”
“We do not believe in masks. They are effective for nursing staff or nursing home workers. I am really against their widespread use. This becomes a ritual that you accept for no reason and create a false sense of security for yourself, ”said Hans Jorn Jepsen Colmos, microbiologist and researcher at CHU Odense. - The most important thing is to keep a distance, wash your hands and clean the surfaces you touch, such as door handles. This is the winning hygiene formula. Yes, you can use the mask in the car at rush hour, but widespread use does not make sense. Long-term wearing of a mask creates a moist environment, it passes microorganisms. "
Allan Randrup Thomsen, an epidemiologist at the University of Copenhagen and an expert on immune defenses against viral infections, says the following about masks: “I have not seen studies proving that these masks work. Most studies show that they are ineffective, as lay people - not doctors, I mean - wear them wrong. They touch the masks themselves, touch the surrounding surfaces with their hands, then they can, for example, rub their eyes with their hands - and that’s how they get infected. What is the point then? ”
Unbelieving in imposed stereotypes and unreasonable hysteria, the Danes remain true to themselves. They decided to check everything themselves.
“Our healthcare system is one that relies on concrete data. The doctor will immediately ask: do you have evidence that this works? Our research is ongoing, we will see and change our attitude towards masks only on the basis of experimentally obtained scientific data, ”says Hes Sogaard, a public health researcher at the University of Southern Denmark in an interview with Le Point.
The Danes did not take the floor to Western politicians or WHO officials. As well as they did not take the Chinese totalitarian or American scenario as an axiom. They began their own research.
A large experiment called Danmask was launched in mid-April by Henning Bundgaard, a professor at Rigshospitalet and the University of Copenhagen with three other scientists. The subjects - 6 thousand people - are divided into two groups. They spend every day outdoors at least three hours a day, visiting public transport, public places.
Half of the subjects wears masks, the other half - like all Danes - do not. Many have comorbidities. And during the study, both groups are regularly tested on a tight schedule for COVID-19 and other viruses. The results have not yet been published, but they will indeed be interesting and used in the development of the state medical strategy. (Especially since everyone, even in Denmark, is ready for the second wave of the virus.)
This 6,000-strong group of researchers replaced the general testing and escalation of hysteria and psychosis among the population, as well as political manipulation in the issue of public health.
But what else can you expect from a country that has presented the world with the concept of “huggge”, denoting the highest state of comfort and coziness? A country for which the psychological health of its citizens is so important that there is a whole state institute for the study of happiness ?!
Indeed, for the Danes, the point is not to write off huge amounts of budget money to fight the virus (“How is that?” The Dane will ask), or use the virus to discredit the authorities (“Well, they did it!”), Or punish the population with fines and threats. And the fact is that in a sufficiently large representative group for a sufficient period of time to study the dynamics and specifics of the virus, its distribution. Be prepared for the second wave, if it happens, and do everything calmly and correctly.
Bundgaard explains: “Asians have long been using masks against environmental pollution. They are known to have serious environmental problems and severe smog. But there is no scientific study with conclusive evidence of their effectiveness against the virus. The mask does not create a barrier to drops. Look here: I put on a mask and feel protected. I am relaxing. I sit down at the table to drink coffee, take off my mask, put it on the table, then I infect my hands and the table. From which someone else will then drink coffee. ”
For a scientist, the issue of wearing masks is a political issue. “Each precaution has a price, so if it does not work, you should not apply it.”
There are other opinions. “I believe in masks, but I don’t like them,” explains Soren Riis Paludan, a biomedical researcher at Aarhus University. - This violates the principle of an open society, and such issues should be subjected to public debate, following the principles of democracy. I saw that Germany was going to impose wearing masks, but I hope that this does not happen to us. I prefer that we make people be intelligent. Of course, some will ignore the rules, but, forcing them, we must make sure that we do not violate those basic principles on which we built our society for more than 200 years. ”
In late April, Denmark lifted part of the restrictive measures and was the first in Europe to return schoolchildren to classes, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that “the Danish strategy was successful in the difficult first stage.”
In total, from the beginning of the epidemic to the first stage of lifting restrictions in Denmark, 9206 cases and 443 deaths from coronavirus were recorded. And so you understand, the Danish Prime Minister is not some kind of herbivorous liberal politician who has not seriously assessed the threat. Oh no. This 42-year-old iron lady is the youngest prime minister in the history of Denmark, a social democrat who continues to pursue a strict immigration policy (in 2016, Denmark suspended its participation in the UN quota system for the resettlement of refugees and planned to place existing “unwanted” migrants on its own uninhabited island for a minute).
Her government has decided on the second Reopening decision, scheduled for May 10, based on the mathematical model of the SSI expert group, which predicts an increase in the number of infected and hospitalized. The decision on the third stage, scheduled for June 8, will be made in accordance with model calculations and new economic estimates - if the level of patients does not exceed the expected, then Denmark will open parks, museums, theaters, cinemas and allow weddings and other mass celebrations.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.