Prevent infection

To limit the spread of covid-19, it is important to follow the recommendations set by the authorities.

Updated: 5 December 2022

It is recommended to follow the Danish Health Authority’s six steps for infection prevention. Please be mindful of them at home, in public spaces, in school and at the workplace.

General guidance from the Danish Health Authorities to prevent infection

The Danish Health Authority recommends that persons aged 50 and over who are particularly vulnerable receive a booster vaccination to avoid serious illness from Covid-19 over the course of the autumn and winter. It is important that you are vaccinated before infection rates begin to rise.

It is expected that many people will be infected with Covid-19 over the course of the autumn and winter. It is therefore important that the population remembers the good advice and practices for the prevention of infection, which also help to prevent a range of other infectious diseases.

Vaccination will help to prevent serious illness, hospitalisation and death. The risk of experiencing serious illness from Covid-19 increases with age.

Read more about vaccination recommendations here:

Vaccination against Covid-19 (Danish Health Authority)

If you experience symptoms of covid-19 and feel sick, you are recommended to stay home until you’re feeling well again.

You are not recommended to be tested unless you are at increased risk of developing a severe course with covid-19. This may be if you are 65 years of age or older, or for other reasons are at increased risk of a serious course of covid-19 - this also applies if you are pregnant. If you are at increased risk, you may be in the target group for early covid-19 treatment.

If you are at increased risk and feel ill, you are advised to have a PCR test or self test taken. If you test positive, it is recommended that you contact your own doctor as soon as possible, as it is your doctor who will assess whether you can receive treatment for covid-19.

Airing out effectively prevents droplet spread indoors.

When someone coughs or sneezes, most droplets fall to the ground. Most of these droplets, so-called microdroplets, can remain in the air for some time, which is why the risk of infection is higher indoors and when many people are gathered in small spaces for longer periods of time.

Therefore, you can prevent the spread of infection and reduce the concentration of airborne microdroplets by ventilation and creating a cross draft by opening windows and doors.

You can increase ventilation by:

  • Creating a cross draft by opening windows and doors
  • Opening windows and doors for 5-10 minutes 4-5 times a day
  • Airing out more often if several people are gathered indoors, for example before and after you have had guests in your home
  • Creating a draft every hour if you are together for an extended period of time

Intermittent draughts only affect room temperature temporarily and do not increase energy consumption.

Proper hand hygiene is the most effective way to prevent contact spread.

The following practices are recommended in order to prevent infection through good hand hygiene:

  • Always wash your hands when they are visibly wet/dirty, after visiting the toilet, after contact with another person’s bodily waste (e.g. when changing a nappy) and before and after handling food.
  • Wash your hands with soap and water for a total time of approximately one minute.
  • Only touch your face with clean hands and wash or disinfect your hands (e.g. with hand sanitiser) after touching your face.
  • Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your sleeve and wash or disinfect your hands afterwards.
  • After coughing or sneezing into your hands, wash or disinfect your hands immediately afterwards.
  • When disinfecting your hands, it is recommended that you use an alcohol-based (70–85% vol./vol.) solution with added glycerol (1–3%).

Please remember to help children maintain good hand hygiene.

The risk of contact spread increases dramatically when you touch contact points and surfaces that are touched by many people, for example door handles, hand rails, light switches, keyboards, computer mice, armrests, the edges of tables, toys, tools, utensils, taps, toilets, etc.

Clean contact points frequently and thoroughly using ordinary cleaning products and disinfectants.

The novel coronavirus spreads mostly through droplets which can be spread through the air when we cough or sneeze, for example. Coughing and sneezing into your sleeve can prevent infection from spreading via droplets in the air. At the same time, you also avoid transferring virus particles to your hands from where they can then pass to other people either directly or via surfaces and contact points. If you cough or sneeze into your hands regardless, it is recommended that you wash or disinfect your hands immediately afterwards.

How The Novel Coronavirus Spreads

You are most infectious when you have symptoms, however you can also infect others even when you are symptomless.

The novel coronavirus spreads in the same way as the common cold or the flu. Virus particles pass from the airways of an infected person into the airways or mucous membranes of another person in one of the following ways:

An infected person can spread droplets that contain the virus. This can occur through coughing, sneezing, shouting, speaking or singing, for example. The droplets are then inhaled by another person where they settle in the nose or mouth.

Larger droplets fall to the ground within a few metres while smaller droplets can remain airborne for longer. Infection via smaller and larger airborne droplets occurs mostly via close contact over prolonged periods of time.

Poor air circulation will mean more droplets in the air, and smaller droplets will be able to remain in the air for longer periods of time. The risk of infection is therefore greater indoors and in settings where many people are gathered together in smaller spaces with poor ventilation.

An infected person can transfer virus particles from their own mucous membranes (e.g. via saliva or nasal mucus) to their hands and thereby spread the infection to others through direct contact like handshaking. The other person can then transfer the virus to their own mucous membranes when they touch their eyes, nose or mouth (direct contact infection).

An infected person may also spread the virus through contact with objects (indirect contact infection). This can occur if a person transfers the virus to an object or common contact surface such as a door handle, handrail, cutlery or similar, whether by coughing, sneezing, shouting, or touching the object with unclean hands. The next person to touch the same surface may then transfer the infection to their own mucous membranes in the eyes, nose or mouth.

This route of infection is thought to be less significant for the novel coronavirus.

Read more from the Danish Health Authority:

How the Novel Coronavirus Spreads (sst.dk - in Danish)

Places where a face mask may be required

 

When travelling

There are no longer requirements for face mask at Danish airports, but be aware that some European airports still require face mask.

You need to check if your airline requires you to wear a face mask or visor on board the aircraft.

Read more about travelling to and from Denmark

Still looking for answers?

You can find out more information in our FAQ section or by contacting one of the authorities' covid-19 hotlines.