Amid record daily COVID-19 infections, Danish students return to schools

Despite an ongoing surge in daily COVID-19 cases in Denmark, exacerbated by the Omicron variant, all students returned to school as planned on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen took to Facebook to welcome the reopening of schools, and urge parents "to consider getting your children vaccinated as soon as possible." The number of children and young people vaccinated "is lower than for us adults," she said.

Frederiksen added that she hoped both children and teachers would be able to make everyday life work under the new conditions, which include regular testing.

In the past 24 hours, Denmark's Statens Serum Institute (SSI) has registered 28,283 new cases, the highest number so far. There have also been 15 deaths, bringing the national total to 3,322 deaths and 893,393 cases since the pandemic began.

The high infection rates will continue in January, according to Henrik Nielsen, professor and chief physician at Aalborg University Hospital's Department of Infectious Diseases.

"I choose to see the positive in the fact that the increase in the number of hospital admissions has not continued today. Then we will have to see next week whether the peak has been reached," Danish news agency Ritzau quoted Nielsen as saying.

According to Helene Probst, director of the Danish Health Authority, the combination of vaccination and restrictions makes academic life safer than before schools were closed on December 15, 2021.

(ANI/Xinhua)