2nd virus wave in Denmark is ‘unlikely,’ says expert as govt plans increased testing

Denmark is “very unlikely” to be hit by a second wave of coronavirus, the country’s chief epidemiologist said on Tuesday. Kare Molbak made the statement after the government laid out plans for increased testing and a contact tracing system.

The Nordic country, which has suffered 533 coronavirus-related deaths, was the first in Europe to relax its coronavirus lockdown almost a month ago. The infection rate and the number of deaths have continued to drop. Denmark began the second phase of relaxing its lockdown this week, which will include reopening restaurants and shopping malls.

“No country has seen an actual second wave yet. Some countries have seen the spread go up and down,” Molbak told reporters. “But with the knowledge we have today, I find it very unlikely that we’ll see a second wave,” he added.

Fears that a second wave of infections could thwart the reopening of the global economy were triggered on Monday after Germany, which has been relatively successful in slowing the outbreak, reported that infections had accelerated again after the first tentative steps to ease its lockdown, Reuters said.