Scandinavia in lockdown as coronavirus cases hit 1,700
Denmark has taken the drastic step of closing down all state schools and telling workers to stay home, while Norway has shut its borders to places worst hit by the coronavirus. In Sweden, the first fatality has prompted the government to warn of even tougher measures ahead.
"We're in uncharted territory here," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at an emergency press briefing convened late on Wednesday. "We've never tried anything like this before."
Scandinavian governments are imposing emergency measures as the number of people with the virus hits almost 1,700. Denmark is telling all citizens to isolate themselves, including no handshakes or hugs. Norway is shuttering schools in the capital Oslo, and large gatherings have been banned across the region.
The decrees came not long after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic, and urged governments to step up their efforts to fight the contagion.
"All private-sector employers are encouraged to ensure that as many employees as possible are able to work from home," Frederiksen said. All state-sector employees are being forced to stay home, though emergency personnel will continue to perform their duties, she said.
To help companies cope with the fallout of the virus, Denmark has agreed to about $20 billion in tax breaks. In Sweden, the government of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven is exploring an increasing palette of stimulus measures to shield exporters from any damage the virus causes to trade.
The government of Finland, where the official virus count stands at 59, is set to hold a press conference at 1:45 p.m. local time on Thursday. In Norway, authorities said on Wednesday they now expect a "relatively sharp increase" in the number of cases.
"We expect more hospitalization in the days and weeks ahead, and also gradually a higher number of intensive-care patients," the Norwegian Institute of Public Health's Director General Camilla Stoltenberg said at a press conference. "We must also expect deaths in the time ahead."