(TAN): Denmark will reopen its borders from June 27 to allow citizens from most European Union nations with low numbers of coronavirus infections to enter the country.
However, residents of Portugal and Sweden will not be able to travel to Denmark just now.
Travellers from only those countries with fewer than 20 infected persons per 100,000 inhabitants per week, dubbed “open” countries, will be permitted entry into the European nation. Once a country is open, its position could be changed to “quarantine country” if its infections increase to 30 infected persons per 100,000 inhabitants in a week.
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“I am pleased that we are now able to take a significant step toward normalisation and that Danes can now travel to more countries in Europe. We are in a much better place in Denmark than we had dared hope just a short time ago,” Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said in a statement.
So far, countries such as France, Greece, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands have met Denmark’s main criteria of low infections and testing capacities, while Sweden and Portugal have not. While the entire country of Sweden would not be eligible at present, residents from some of the regions such as Scania, Halland or Blekinge will be allowed to enter Denmark.
Denmark’s Minister for Health and Elderly Affairs Magnus Heunicke said borders have to be opened responsibly since COVID-19 is not over yet.
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“When we open the borders, it is absolutely essential that we do so in a responsible way. We have therefore developed a model that assesses each country on criteria relating to the current level of infection within the country. The epidemic is not over, and it is therefore important that we continue to closely monitor infections, including infection that comes in from abroad,” Heunicke said.
June 27 onwards, the Danish administration has decided to allow entry for people outside of the European Union with girlfriends or boyfriends, grandparents and grandchildren in Denmark if they submit a negative COVID-19 test not older than 72 hours.
Denmark will release an updated list of countries that are considered open and quarantine on June 25.
So far, the country has reported 12,591 cases including 600 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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