Abstract
Aim: To investigate the COVID-19 situation across geographical areas of Denmark over time. Methods: We used COVID-19 data from the Danish State Serum Institute on national, regional and municipality level. Cumulative number of tests, incidence, hospitalizations and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants were analysed for the five Danish regions and for all of Denmark. The cumulative number of tested and incidence of COVID-19 per 100,000 was compared for the two municipalities, Lolland and Gentofte. A sensitivity analysis of the COVID-19 indicators on a regional level was performed using number of tested as the denominator. Results: The Capital Region ranked highest on all analysed COVID-19 indicators with 10,849 tested, 365 cases, 63 hospitalized and 18 deaths per 100,000 by 2 June 2020. The three regions in western Denmark all had low levels, while Region Zealand ranked second highest. Despite general low health status in Lolland municipality, the cumulative incidence of COVID-19 was consistently below that of Gentofte. Sensitivity analysis showed that the Capital Region had the highest number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 tested, but Region Zealand had a higher number of hospitalized and similar number of deaths per 100,000 tested as the Capital Region over time. Conclusion: COVID-19 had affected eastern Denmark, especially the Capital Region, considerably more than western Denmark. The difference may relate to population density and housing conditions.
Highlights
The first known case of COVID-19 in Denmark was diagnosed on 27 February 2020 [1].The first patients returned from skiing holidays in Italy and Austria and generated local chains of transmission
We investigated the incidence of COVID-19, COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths across the five regions in Denmark
By 2 June 2020, 533,094 inhabitants had been tested for COVID-19 of whom 11,662 (2.2%) tested positive, equivalent to 200 COVID-19 cases per 100,000, of whom 2282 (19.6%) had been hospitalized and 580 (5.0%) died, corresponding to 39 hospitalizations and 10 deaths per 100,000
Summary
The first known case of COVID-19 in Denmark was diagnosed on 27 February 2020 [1].The first patients returned from skiing holidays in Italy and Austria and generated local chains of transmission. The health authorities aimed to contain the infection through isolation of cases and contact tracing. By 10 March, the majority of cases were acquired in Denmark and the strategy changed from containment to mitigation [1,2]. Private businesses with person-to-person contact, for example restaurants, entertainment venues, hairdressers and many shops, closed down temporarily and gatherings of more than 10 persons were banned [1,2]. From mid-April, a gradual reopening of society started with childcare and schools, and by 2 June most businesses, restaurants, etc. From mid-April, a gradual reopening of society started with childcare and schools, and by 2 June most businesses, restaurants, etc. had reopened with limited capacity due to distancing measures [4]
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