A sign requests visitors to wear masks in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo / Getty Images
A sign requests visitors to wear masks in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo / Getty Images
Today, January 31, is the last day that the Covid-19 pandemic will pose a threat to society.
At least, that's what Denmark has declared.
Earlier this week, the Danish government said it had "decided that Covid-19 should no longer be categorised as a socially critical disease after January 31, 2022".
From February 1 onwards, the country is dumping most of its current coronavirus restrictions following expert health advice.
Hospitalisation and death rates have not risen dramatically compared to the number of Covid-19 cases, according to its health body, prompting an expert advisory panel to throw their weight behind easing restrictions to live in a Covid-normal Denmark.
It's a major backflip for the European nation which called a lockdown mid-December once the disease's Omicron strain was first detected among the population.
And it's not the only country in Europe to rollout a major easing of restrictions over the past few days.
On December 18, Denmark implemented a partial lockdown over concerns of the Omicron variant.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen shut down theatres, cinemas, concert halls, amusement parks, museums and art galleries across the country.
She also said shops and restaurants had to limit the number of customers allowed to enter their venues. Restaurants had to serve their last meals and alcoholic beverages at 10pm and close by 11pm.
However, two weeks ago, Denmark reopened its cinemas and music venues.
On February 1, only two days away, the Danish government will reopen nightclubs, restaurants can stay open as long as they like, there will be no capacity limits in venues, vaccine passes won't be necessary to enter certain places and masks won't be required on public transport.
Some restrictions will still remain in place for Denmark, though they are very minimal, such as wearing a mask in an aged care facility.
At time of writing, Denmark had recorded 53,000 Covid cases in the past 24 hours, it's worst day to date, out of a population of about six million.
In all, the Scandinavian nation has recorded 1.6 million cases since the pandemic began and 3700 deaths.
A total of 81 per cent of its population has been double-vaccinated while 62 per cent have received their third jab.
The government shortened the length of time needed between the second vaccination dose and a booster shot for people over the age of 40 to 4.5 months.
Earlier this month, Denmark proposed a fourth Covid vaccine dose for highly vulnerable people, amid a spike in cases of the Omicron variant.
Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen. Photo / Getty Images
Around the same time as Denmark's lockdown backflip, a slew of other European nations announced the immediate end to Covid-19 restrictions despite record case numbers.
England, Austria, the Netherlands and France are all returning to a semblance of normality in the coming days.
On Thursday, despite a new study finding that two-thirds of England's Omicron cases are repeat infections, the government announced that face mask mandates were no longer in effect.
They also scrapped vaccine passes as a requirement to enter a venue, relaxing its "Plan B" measures brought in right before Christmas.
Over in Austria, it ended an unprecedented lockdown whereby only its unvaccinated population were impacted by restrictions.
Austrian health minister Wolfgang Muckstein said on Wednesday that restrictions for the unvaccinated would end next week.
This was in accordance with public health guidance which found that health staff were able to keep up with hospitalisations and ICU admissions.
"We came to the conclusion that the lockdown for unvaccinated people in Austria is only justifiable in the event of the threat of an imminent overburdening of intensive-care capacity," Muckstein said at a press conference.
Then in the Netherlands, just weeks after the government plunged the nation into a partial lockdown following a 16,000 case surge in a single day, they changed their rules again.
Last week, restrictions lifted to allow bars, restaurants and museums to reopen.
However, some restrictions are still in place, with venues having to close by 10pm, requirements that social distancing still be adhered to, and a limit on the number of house visitors.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned of the eased restrictions: "We really are taking a risk today, and we have to be clear about that."
France's Health Minister Olivier Veran flagged on Tuesday last week — which coincided with his nation recording more than 500,000 infections in a 24-hour period — that restrictions would ease next month.
Work-from-home rules will relax from early February and he will then allow nightclubs to reopen several weeks later.
"We are a bit more confident in saying we can relax some of these constraints and let people return to life as normal as possible," Veran said.
