Denmark ordered a nationwide shutdown on Wednesday, closing shopping centers and department stores as Christmas approaches and coronavirus cases increase.
In addition to pharmacies and food stores, small stores will also be closed, Associated Press reports, and businesses are expected to close on Dec. 25. Hairdressers and beauty salons are expected to close on December 21.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that the closure will be in effect until January 3.
“An epidemic that gets out of control will have major consequences, and will stop bigger than now,” says Frederiksen
Denmark is currently under partial lockdown, which has just been extended to all 98 municipalities in the country. As The Local reports, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said at a press conference that 1,808 health workers had contracted the coronavirus in the past week, indicating a 70 percent increase in infections.
Heunicke said, “The infection is now all over society and it’s in our hospitals. But it’s important to say the health service is still open.”
Frederiksen said new corporate compensation packages will be negotiated when the lockdown begins.
“We are doing this because an out-of-control epidemic would have widespread implications and bigger implications than now close,” said Frederiksen.
In November, the Danish government attempted to cull 15 million minks that had become a source of a mutated strain of the coronavirus that had infected several individuals. The mink’s monetary loss was estimated at nearly $ 800 million, a price the Danish government promised to repay.
According to the World Health Organization’s coronavirus data dashboard, Denmark has confirmed 116,087 cases and 961 deaths from the coronavirus. It is currently in the midst of a wave of new cases like much of the world, breaking its record for the most cases recorded on Dec. 13 with 3,552 confirmed cases.