A controversy recently erupted in Denmark as the country’s oldest newspaper Berlingske, complained that the Danish government had not instituted a mask mandate to protect against the spread of Covid19. That positioned them “to the right of Trump.”
“The whole world is wearing face masks, even Donald Trump,” Berlingske pointed out.
That prompted a rebuke from Danish health officials.
“All these countries recommending face masks haven’t made their decisions based on new studies,” said Henning Bundgaard, chief physician at Denmark’s Rigshospitale.
Dutch health officials also recently shared why they don’t believe a mask mandate is necessary in the Netherlands:
“From a medical point of view, there is no evidence of a medical effect of wearing face masks, so we decided not to impose a national obligation,” said Medical Care Minister Tamara van Ark.
80-90% of people in Finland and Holland say they “never” wear masks when they go out as well. That’s compared to the 80-90% of people in Spain and Italy who say they “always” wear masks when they go out.
The death rates in countries like Denmark fail to support the argument for masks.
Denmark has one of the lowest Covid19 death rates in the world, having suffered 616 Covid19 fatalities as of August 4. That’s less than 1/3 the number of Danes who die from pneumonia or influenza in a given year.
Photo by Alexander Droeger