Denmark's nursing home residents, hospital patients, and patients in psychiatric wards will be given more opportunities to receive visitors, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health on Tuesday.
The guidelines, which will be officially released on June 11, consist of six main points for the gradual easing of restrictions in medical facilities so as to reduce reinfection, said the ministry.
"We will continue to do everything we can to prevent infecting chains in hospitals and nursing homes because we, unfortunately, know that more than one-third of all deaths among COVID-19 cases in Denmark occur in nursing homes. That is why we have to have some restrictions continue," said Magnus Heunicke, Minister of Health and Elderly.
Major highlights of the new guidelines included visits should, as a starting point, be conducted outdoors. Indoor visits could be made when people visited are in critical situations. An opportunity to have indoor visits from one to two visiting persons will be made available. Visitors can accompany a patient for treatment, examination or a medical conversation. The relatives have the option to get tested prior to visiting a nursing home or hospital. The management at medical facilities get to arbitrarily decide the specific situation for all visits.
As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Denmark stands at 11,962, with 593 deaths, according to the latest official figure published by the Statens Serum Institut.
