According to reports, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the country would start taking the first steps to relax their lockdown regulations.
After a three week lockdown, on 15 April, daycare centres and primary schools will reopen and companies will slowly start resuming business.
The announcement came after Frederiksen last week said she would lay out a plan for gradually lifting the lockdown after Easter if the number of cases and deaths were to remain stable.
Denmark has reported 187 coronavirus-related deaths and is said to be one of the first European nations to initiate a lockdown.
“Reopening Denmark is a fine balance. Kind of like walking on a line. If we stand still, we will fall in. If we go too fast, things go wrong,” Frederiksen said in a media briefing.
Denmark is the second country in Europe to provide dates and details on a gradual reopening. Austria earlier on Monday announced it was preparing for a “resurrection” the day after Easter by reopening some shops in an initial loosening of its restrictions.
“If we open Denmark too quickly again we risk that infections rise too sharply and then we have to close down again,” Frederiksen said. She urged all Danes to stick to the government’s guidelines on social distancing and hygiene.
At the moment all remaining restrictions including a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people would stay in place until at least May 10, while a ban on larger gatherings like music festivals would remain in place until August, she said.
Frederiksen warned that if the number of infections start climbing again, restrictions will immediately be reimposed.
