After praising citizens for their careful behavior on Pentecost weekend, the police needed to declare an area in Copenhagen off-limits (DK) because too many people were gathering there. The temperature in Denmark has risen to the highest level of the year, all of 75 degrees, and many went to popular spots at the beaches and harbors. One of the hotspots was the Sandkai and Goteborg Plads waterfront area in Nordhavn, which lies along the Sound in the northern district of Copenhagen. 

The place was full of sunbathers lying beside one another and not observing the guidelines on social distancing and limiting gatherings to ten persons. “Citizens did not follow our directions to go to places where there are not so many people,” wrote the police in a press release. People may still pass through the zone and swim from the quay, but they must leave immediately after swimming or else face the possibility of a fine of up to DKK 2,500 ($350). The ban applies until Thursday evening. The ban on gatherings expires on June 8, when the government has said that it will consider raising the limit from ten to 30 to 50 persons if the spread of infections remains under control.

Disperse and regroup

After the ban went into effect, there were reports that many people simply moved to Marmorbyen (DK), a nearby area on the other side of the water, and crowds were congregating there. The sunbathers understood why the police took action, but some were not concerned about the risk of infection. “Honestly, I see better and better news that the infection rate is low and fewer than ever are hospitalized and few deaths,” said one of them. “So in my mind, the worst is over.”

A month ago the Social Liberal Party proposed that the city of Copenhagen expand the number of bathing zones in order to spread out the sunbathers, and it appears that the city is now taking steps to set up new areas near the city center.

The lure of forbidden Sweden

On Monday there was a report that five high school students who had been on a trip to Sweden on Ascension Day weekend had tested positive after they returned to school (DK) and the principal had cancelled classes for a week for all first-year students at the school, Roskilde Cathedral School. A total of 12 students had been together on the trip, which had not been organized or authorized by the school. 

It is not certain that the students became infected in Sweden, but the trip violated the government’s restrictions on unnecessary travel abroad. Sweden has not implemented a strict lockdown and has a much higher rate of infection than Denmark. It is not one of the three neighboring countries in the region covered by the plan to reopen the borders to tourists on June 15. Sweden does not prohibit Danes from entering, however. Many Danes have summer houses in southern Sweden and visit them often. “You wonder why the pupils didn’t think more carefully [about the trip],” said Claus Niller Nielsen, the principal. “You wonder why there wasn’t an adult somewhere who put their foot down about the trip.”

Mixed reactions

The incident prompted a representative of the Foreign Ministry to reiterate the government’s warning (DK) against traveling abroad and reminder that travelers returning from other countries should be quarantined for 14 days. While a representative of the students’ organization was annoyed that the entire class had to miss out on classroom teaching again soon after they had returned to school, the mayor of Roskilde, Tomas Breddam, a Social Democrat, took a more indulgent view: “I think we can all remember what it was like to be a first-year high school student at the start of summer. I don’t think we should scold [them], I think we should try to help.”