Europe 1 with AFP 3:45 p.m., December 17, 2021
Denmark announced on Friday the closure of its huge part of its cultural scene and a new restriction on nightlife in an attempt to curb the record spike in cases of Covid-19 and the new variant Omicron. "We need to limit our activity. We all need to limit our social contacts," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a press conference.
The Scandinavian country has recorded a new all-time high of more than 11,000 cases in the past 24 hours, including a new high of more than 2,500 cases of the Omicron variant, the government said at a press conference.
"The theaters, cinemas, concert halls will have to close"
,
said the First Minister Mette Frederiksen.
"We need to limit our activity. We all need to limit our social contact," she called.
Closure of amusement parks and museums
Denmark, at the forefront of sequencing, is one of the countries in the world to have detected the most cases of Omicron on its soil and the authorities expect it to become the majority in the coming days.
The measures announced on Friday have yet to be approved by parliament.
"Our goal remains to keep society as open as possible," said Mette Frederiksen, excluding lockdowns like the one decided in spring 2020 "because we have vaccines".
Shortened nightlife
The government will also demand the closure of other gathering places, such as amusement parks or convention centers, or even museums.
If the Christmas holidays have already been extended to counter the surge in cases, the executive still plans to return to school when the new school year begins on January 5.
Nightlife, already planed last week, will be further shortened, with bars and restaurants closing at 11 p.m. and a ban on serving alcohol after 10 p.m.
Almost a month after its identification, the Omicron variant appears very contagious and seems to escape vaccines in part, with however an unknown as to the severity of the infections.