With the number of daily registered coronavirus cases rising past 300 over the past week, the behaviour of young people in Copenhagen’s nightlife has come under heavy scrutiny.
If it were up to Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of experimental virology at the University of Copenhagen, the capital should completely shut down its nightlife for a while – and do so immediately.
“When you see how the nightlife is in full vigour, I don’t think there is any reason to wait until there are further spikes in cases. We need to step in and shut it down,” Thomsen told DR Nyheder.
“The core issue is the nightlife. In my opinion they should completely close down the bars for a while. Restaurants should be for seating guests only, and the gathering limit should be reduced to 20 or 25. That’s what I would recommend if asked.”
Thomsen contended that initially his proposed restrictions should be levelled at Copenhagen and its surrounding municipalities.
READ ALSO: More coronavirus restrictions expected, says government
SSI concerned
His recommendations come in the wake of State Serum Institute (SSI) department head Tyra Krause stating she was concerned about the epidemic’s development in Denmark, and specifically the effect of nightlife.
The government also warned that further coronavirus restrictions could be expected.
The good news is that despite a recent spike in new cases, the overall death toll hasn’t increased much – although it did rise by two yesterday to 633.
However, there has been an increase in the number of people being admitted to hospital and intensive care units.
Read more about the latest coronavirus developments at the SSI website (in Danish).
