Last week in Denmark (13.03 – 20.03) Episode 11

Vaccination HQ

Status: 10,6% of the population has been vaccinated (621.011 people). 5% of the population has received the second vaccine shot (294.013 people). 

Corona infection status: There is an average of 800 new infected people daily. 191 people are hospitalized. The five municipalities with the highest rate of infection are: Ish?j, H?je-Taastrup, Vallensb?k, Br?ndby and Vejle. Check out more data here. 

Vaccination calendar: Find out here, when is your turn to receive the vaccine. The calendar has been updated on 19th of March. 

Digital corona passport: The application will be developed by Netcompany and Trifork, and it should be ready in May. The QR code from the application will contain information regarding your vaccination and testing status. To enter an event or to travel, your QR code will be scanned. Read more here. 

The return of AstraZeneca: European Medicines Agency declared that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective, although without ruling out a potential link to the blood clots. According to the agency, the benefits outweigh the potential risks. Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Portugal have decided to use the vaccine again, while Denmark isn’t willing to reuse it until the potential risks have been clarified. 

Vaccinated with AstraZeneca: If you have received the AstraZeneca vaccine in the last 14 days, pay attention to your skin, look for bruises or bleeding. The Danish Medicine Agency recommends you seek medical attention, if you notice anything out of ordinary. Read more here. 

No more vaccine waste: Citizens from three regions (Nordjylland, Midtjylland and Region Syd) can be vaccinated ahead of the schedule, if they sign up to the daily list for “leftover vaccine”. What is a “leftover vaccine”? Once a vial of vaccine is open, it needs to be used. If anyone booked for a vaccine, doesn’t show up, then the vaccine goes to waste. To avoid that, citizens can now apply (daily) (with priority given to elderly) to receive the vaccine. 

Corona long-term effects: According to a Norwegian study, 61% of the people infected with the virus have long-term issues. Even after 6 months, they experience difficulty concentrating, fatigue and a changed sense of smell and taste. There is also a worrying trend of memory loss, among young people (16 to 30 years old). The study has been done on a group of 2700 people. 

Danish Politics HQ

Political quiz: How well do you know what happened in the previous week in Denmark? Take the quiz and find out. (It’s in Danish). 

Reopening negotiations (II): From Monday, starts a new round of negotiations between the government and the parliamentary parties, with regards to what will reopen next after Easter. Read the different party leaders reactions to the latest lifted restrictions. 

Re-opening phase (III): Restrictions lifted from 22th March. 

• 10 people can meet outdoors (increased from 5 before) - indoors remains 5; 
• 50 people can do sports together outside (increased from 25 before); 
• 50 people can participate in religious activities outside;
• A student can participate in an internship or diploma course;
• Capital Region (Hovedstaden) - Graduating pupils in the elementary school, as well as juvenile and adult educations can return to school; 

Danish Economy HQ

Danish economy: The GDP is expected to grow with 1,4% in 2021. The earlier predictions of a higher growth have been changed due to the low level of economic activity in the first three months of the year. Read more here. 

Interest rates: The sharp rise of prices in the housing sector, worries the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority. According to them, banks started to take greater financial risks by giving out loans to people that cannot pay them back. They expect a rise in the interest rates. Read more here.  

Unfrozen holiday pay: The Danish Parliament has reached a decision to pay out the rest of the frozen holiday pay. It has been possible to have three weeks of frozen holiday pay paid out in autumn 2020. However, you can soon (starting next week) apply for the remaining frozen holiday pay. If you did not have your holiday pay paid out in 2020 you can now apply to have all of the frozen holiday pay (which can be up to 5 weeks) paid out now. 

The cost of quarantine: 10 billion dkk / month. 8 billion dkk because of the restrictions in Denmark and 2 billion dkk because of the travel restrictions. Is this a lot? Well, it represents around 5% of the Danish GDP. The Finance Ministry says the numbers are estimative.

Daily Life in Denmark HQ

Taxi Drivers vs. Danish: To become a taxi driver in the future, you need to speak Danish level B1 (medium level). Just one of the changes made to the taxi law, that you can read further here. 

Oscars nomination: The Danish movie “Druk” has been nominated for the “Best International Film” Oscar. The Danish film director Thomas Vinterberg has been nominated for the “Best Director” Oscar, becoming the first ever Danish director to reach this stage. The Oscars are on 26 April. 

The end of Tange Lake: The largest artificial lake in Denmark, that was created 100 years ago to make energy, has to be removed, because it damages the biodiversity of Guden?en. This is the conclusion reached by a group of experts. The municipality of Silkeborg wants to keep the lake, while the Ministry of Environment has yet to take a decision on the matter. 

Parents: From now on, both parents will receive news about their child (kindergarten, school, dentist, etc.) on the digital mail. Until now, the authorities used to write to just one of them. The legislation applies regardless if the parents live together or not. 

Violence is punished: If you use violence during a protest, you will get punished. If you instigate others to do violence through speech during a protest, you will get punished. If you hang a burning doll with the face of a known personality and the words “It must be eliminated”, you will get punished. The Danish law is equipped to deal with such situations, which explains the prison sentences given recently to different participants at the Men in Black protests. 

The World in 2021 HQ

Denmark vs. Pirates: Starting November, Denmark will deploy a frigate to fight pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of West Africa. Around 40 % of reported pirate incidents occur in this area. Danish ships transport around 10 billion dkk worth of goods through the Gulf of Guinea every year. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jeppe Kofod, says Denmark undertakes responsibility as a marine nation and applies sharp measures against piracy. 

ISIS is back: The southeastern African country of Mozambique is being overrun by the “Islamic State” terrorist organization. Until now, 670,000 people have fled the country. Read more here.  

Russia: Agreements have been reached with companies from Italy, Spain, France and Germany to start the production of the Sputnik vaccine in Europe. However, without an approval from the European Medicines Agency, the vaccine cannot be sold on the European Single Market. Read more here. 

USA: The US State Department sent a clear signal to Germany to drop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as it is a “bad deal for Ukraine and for the Central and Eastern European allies and partners”. The companies involved in the project will be sanctioned, if they don’t immediately abandon work on it. 

Instagram for children: Facebook (the owner of Instagram) is working on a social media platform for children under 13 years old that is similar to Instagram. Also, new security measures will be implemented on Instagram, so that people over 18 years old cannot contact children under 18 years old. Read more here. 

Climate Strikes are back: After a break, mainly due to corona related restrictions, young people come back to protest politicians and their weak policies against climate change. The movement brings stronger messages and digital and physical protests already planned in 50 countries. The now global movement is determined to bring back climate change on top of the agenda. With demonstrations planned in over 700 locations, young people aim to turn up the pressure ahead of the COP26. Read more here. 

European Union HQ

Free books and magazines: As a citizen of European Union, you can order for free books and magazines from the “Publications Office of the European Union”. We recommend Research EU magazine. In the latest edition, it covers the future of aviation. 

Netherlands: Mark Rutte will continue as prime-minister of Netherlands, after his party took the first place in the parliamentary elections. He will lead a coalition together with D66 (social-liberal, pro-european) (second place), CDA (center-right) and potentially, VOLT (a pan-european, social-liberal federalist party, that entered the Parliament for the first time). Read more here. 

France/Spain: Signed a dual citizenship agreement at Montauban (north of Toulouse). There are around 150,000 French citizens that live in Spain and around 190,000 Spaniards that live in France. This kind of agreement also exists between Spain and Portugal. 

Sweden: The mayors of Helsingborg, Landskrona and Malm? are fighting over the location of a new potential tunnel or bridge between Denmark and Sweden. There is worry that the new connection between Denmark and Germany, will increase freight traffic with 100% over the ?resund Bridge. 

Hungary: The ruling party of Hungary, Fidesz, has left EPP (European People’s Party), after ideological divergences on the future of the European Union. While EPP, supports the European project, the leader of Fidesz, Viktor Orban, doesn’t really. Read more here. 

Artist of the Week 

Pachamama Band: World Music Band (and musicians) based in Aalborg, Denmark. “We gather as children of our Mother Earth to celebrate diversity”. 12 musicians, 10 countries, 1 language. 

• Multicultural Platform - Since 2018 musicians and music lovers, from abroad and local, have a multicultural platform to meet in Aalborg. Founded by the Nordjyske Culture Prize Winner 2019, bassist and music entrepreneur Kenneth Dahl Knudsen.
• Full House - When full house concerts were a thing, we did a lot of these in Aalborg. Giving a unique live and alive musical experience with musicians and audiences from all over the globe. Our concerts are often described as a ritual, a release of collective high vibrations, an act that could bring peace to the world. As music makes mental borders disappear, attendants are left with a sense of unity and belonging. We are currently playing small format outdoor concerts.
• Documentary - We have recently released a documentary film following the first 2 years of Pachamama Band. Produced by Lucas Illanes from The Hideout Studio and supported by Kulturkanten and Aalborg Kommune. 

Until next week...

Monday: According to the World Happiness Report, Denmark has once again ranked as one of the world's happiest countries. We investigate if the report is representative of Denmark's large international community. The details are in the data!

 Tuesday: “When I say you want to be happy, what I’m actually saying is you want to find peace. We say peace of mind, but what we really want is peace from mind.” Naval Ravikant, one of the well-known Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, concentrated all of his bits of wisdom about happiness in one article.

Wednesday: Modern society is a global digital village that has no geographical boundaries. We rely more and more on our digital devices and are increasingly open to all types of cyberattacks.

Thursday: We all love and eat pasta, but have you ever wondered where your favorite pasta shape came from? (be more specific than ‘Italy’) Find out the origins of Lasagne, Vermicelli, Tortellini and more in this comprehensive article.

Friday: As Denmark continues to attract more ambitious and talented internationals, let's look behind the scenes at what it's like to study here and what opportunities are available for graduates.

Saturday: If you have ever visited a doctor in Denmark, you will make use of our App suggestion(s) this week.

MinSundhed (iOS & Android) has all your test results, no matter the cabinet you went to (if you moved or have chosen another family doctor). On this app you will also have the digital version of the Coronapas (after you will get the vaccine).

Min L?ge (iOS & Android) is your direct line to your family doctor. From this app you can call or write to your doctor, make appointments or get e-consultations. You can also see all your vaccinations and test results (including the COVID-19 test results).

Medicinkortet (iOS & Android) is the app where you can see your prescribed medication and you can automatically renew it (if it’s not a one-time, acute problem).

With this said, we wish you all to use these apps as few times as possible, but we wanted to make them more visible because it’s always better to be prepared.

P.S.: all three are in Danish, but they use few words!

See you on Sunday!

Newsletter team

Curator: Narcis George Matache / Proofreader: Monika Elend (English/Polish)

Marketing & Distribution: Cristian Pa?cal?u (Marketing), Andreea Bianca Buza (Graphics), Lucian Pal (Distribution)

Romanian-version team: Diana Popa, Delia-Claudia Sima, Oana Elena T?nase, Cristina Avram (Proofreader)

Polish-version team: Pawel Kubulus, Kajetan Domski. Miguel Oliveira (Distribution)

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