Denmark has become the first EU member state to lift all coronavirus curbs on Tuesday sighting a high vaccination rate in the country. The government believes its massive vaccination drive alone would allow it to cope with the more contagious, yet milder variant of the virus. Covid cases are still surging in the country.

From February 1, the Scandinavian country has stopped categorizing Covid-19 as a “socially critical disease,” abandoning facemasks and Covid-19 passes.

Restrictions and limitations placed on indoor gatherings are also removed. Restaurants and bars will return to their usual working hours. Nightclubs will also reopen across Denmark late on Tuesday.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen acknowledged that lifting restrictions could seem “strange and paradoxical” when the country of 5.8 million people has been seeing between 40,000 and 50,000 new Covid-19 infections per day. But the PM explained that the number of hospitalizations has been steadily decreasing due to Omicron’s milder nature and a high vaccination rate among the population.

More than 60% of Danes have already received the third booster vaccine shot, compared to an average of below 45% elsewhere in the EU. Together with those recently recovered, some 80% of the Danish public should be currently protected from the virus, according to the estimations by the health authorities.

Denmark had already attempted to lift all Covid-19 restrictions last September, but was forced to reinstate some curbs two months later due to a spike in cases.
-RT