Denmark issues new guidelines for COVID-19 tests

Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-02 19:09:44|Editor: xuxin
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COPENHAGEN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Denmark's National Board of Health on Wednesday evening issued new guidelines to expand COVID-19 tests, saying doctors can now refer patients to regional COVID-19 clinics for diagnostic tests after a brief telephone consultation.

The patients include those with mild symptoms, the high-risk group suffering from a chronic illness, and people who have difficulty self-quarantining at home or have close contact with COVID-19 patients.

"The new guideline also makes it much easier to get a test if you are in the health and elderly sector or working with socially disadvantaged people," said the report.

Previous guidelines only allowed doctors to refer patients with moderate or severe symptoms to COVID-19 clinics for diagnostic tests.

According to the new guidelines, testing capacity will increase to over 5,000 people per day, said Helene Probst, center manager for planning at the National Board of Health, in an interview with Danish DR radio on Thursday.

"But we expect that we can reach 10,000 next week and 15,000 after April 13," Probst added.

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