COPENHAGEN, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke announced on Friday a ten-point initiative including the requirement of face masks on all forms of public transport in Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city in the wake of an alarming rise of COVID-19 infections.
"We are not repeating the country's March 11 comprehensive shutdown in Arhus. We believe that with 'needle stick' operations, we can stop the virus with a local effort," said Heunicke at a press briefing, following an all-party meeting to discuss the problem in the parliament.
The Health Minister's initiatives for Aarhus also call upon city-dwellers to avoid public transport if other means of transport are available.
Meanwhile, it is also recommended that physical attendance in high schools and other youth education venues be postponed for 14 days.
The new initiatives came as the latest figures from the Statens Serum Institut on Friday revealed that Denmark's total COVID-19 infections have risen to 14,442, with 136 new cases -- the third day in a row when over 100 new confirmed cases were registered.
Writing on Facebook late Friday evening, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen revealed both the "seriousness" of the situation and her "concern" over the recent rise in new COVID-19 cases in Denmark, but emphasized that her government wanted "to avoid a shutdown to the extent we decided in March. Not least for our economy." Enditem
