COVID-19 pandemic in Greenland

The COVID-19 pandemic occurs in Greenland since March 2020 as part of the global COVID-19 pandemic on. The cause of the disease is the pathogen SARS-CoV-2 . The first case was announced on March 16, 2020. On April 8, the pandemic in Greenland was declared over. Another outbreak occurred between May 24th and June 4th.

Course and measures

The first positive case of a Greenlander on March 8th was the skier Nuunu Chemnitz Berthelsen , who was examined in Italy and was there in quarantine. The flight connection with Iceland - the only one that runs from Greenland abroad - was initially limited on March 13th and then discontinued, in line with the closure of Danish borders. A fortnightly quarantine has been compulsory for most travelers since March 16, and on March 21, flight connections both within Greenland and with Denmark were suspended. Cultural and sporting events have been canceled as a precaution.

On March 16, a person from Nuuk tested positive, which is the first case of infection in Greenland. She had previously been in a risk area and has since been in quarantine, so the authorities did not assume the possibility of a transmission. On March 17th, Prime Minister Kim Kielsen announced that schools will be closed and air traffic will be completely suspended. On the same day, Disko Line announced that it would also cease shipping. On March 18, a second person tested positive in Nuuk, who had not previously been in isolation and could thus infect other people. As a result, private vehicles were also banned from driving to other locations from Nuuk, which placed the entire city under quarantine. In addition, all shops and institutions were closed with the exception of grocery stores. On March 22nd, two more people tested positive in Nuuk, doubling the total to four. Because of the cessation of air traffic, the printing of the national newspapers Sermitsiaq and Atuagagdliutit , which is normally carried out in Denmark, had to be temporarily stopped. Instead, both were printed in A4 format in Nuuk only within the capital. The other subscribers could only purchase the newspaper digitally.

After the spring session of the Inatsisartut , which was supposed to start on April 17, was suspended by the President of the Parliament Vivian Motzfeldt on March 18 , Prime Minister Kim Kielsen had an extraordinary session convened on March 25. More than half of the MPs had to be present for the quorum, but at the time of the convocation there were not 16 MPs in the isolated Nuuk. The meeting took place on April 1st and the quorum was secured with three deputies. Since only ten people are allowed to stay in a room, votes had to be made in two groups. To reduce the risk of domestic violence and infections as a result of careless behavior, an alcohol ban was passed in Nuuk , Kapisillit and Qeqertarsuatsiaat on March 28th .

On April 4, the eleventh and, for the time being, last case of infection was reported. On April 7th, Kim Kielsen announced that schools outside Nuuk would be reopened after Easter, while domestic traffic is expected to be suspended until April 30th. On April 8th, national doctor Henrik L. Hansen announced that all infected Greenlanders have recovered, making Greenland the only country in the world with an end to the epidemic at that time. On April 15, the alcohol ban was lifted. On April 16, the 1,000th person was tested in Greenland. On the same day it became known that a person of Greenlandic descent , a 36-year-old great-grandson of Augo Lynge , who had worked as a care assistant in Denmark, had died of the coronavirus for the first time. On May 4th, scheduled air traffic to Denmark was resumed to a limited extent, while entry is still only permitted with a permit.

On May 24th, a person in Aasiaat tested positive, the first case of infection in Greenland in a month and a half. The person had previously been in Denmark, contracted COVID-19 and had subsequently tested negative several times before traveling home to Greenland, where another test was positive again. This phenomenon had already been observed in the Faroe Islands, among other places; it is assumed that the persons concerned have recovered and are not contagious and that virus residues have caused a false-positive result (see also COVID-19 # immunity ). On May 25, Kim Kielsen announced that from June 15, air traffic between Denmark and Greenland would be normalized again. On May 27, a person tested positive in Ilulissat who had traveled from Denmark five days earlier. A test carried out before departure was negative. On June 4, Greenland was declared caseless again.

statistics

Confirmed
cases of infection and recoveries (cumulative) in Greenland according to data from Johns Hopkins University
Note: The statistics are only continued for active cases.

Web links

• Official website of Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq on the corona pandemic

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Malik Brøns: Grønlandsk skiløber i Northern Italy he tests positive for coronavirus. In: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa. March 8, 2020, accessed March 14, 2020 (Danish). 
2. ^ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Indrejse fra Iceland lukker. In: Sermitsiaq. March 13, 2020, accessed on March 14, 2020 (Danish). 
3. ↑ Rejser til Greenland. In: greenland-travel.dk. Retrieved May 7, 2020 (Danish). 
4. ↑ coronavirus - Nuværende status i Grønland. In: visitgreenland.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020 (Danish). 
5. ↑ Malik Brøns: Overblik: Status på coronavirus. In: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa. March 13, 2020, accessed on March 14, 2020 (Danish). 
6. ↑ Christine Hyldal, Jens Betak: Første person i Grønland er smittet med coronavirus. In: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa. March 16, 2020, accessed March 16, 2020 (Danish). 
7. ↑ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Kielsen: Skoler og flytrafik lukkes ned. In: Sermitsiaq. March 17, 2020, accessed March 18, 2020 (Danish). 
8. ↑ Disco Line stopper traffic that follows the coronavirus. In: Sermitsiaq. March 17, 2020, accessed March 18, 2020 (Danish). 
9. ↑ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Nu to smittet: Nuuk isoleres - mange steder lukkes. In: Sermitsiaq. March 18, 2020, accessed March 18, 2020 (Danish). 
10. ↑ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Flere coronasmittede i Nuuk. In: Sermitsiaq. March 22, 2020, accessed March 24, 2020 (Danish). 
11. ^ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Editor-in-chief: Nødaviser. In: Sermitsiaq. March 23, 2020, accessed March 24, 2020 (Danish). 
12. ↑ Nukappiaaluk Hansen: Inatsisartuts forårssamling udsat. In: Sermitsiaq. March 18, 2020, accessed March 26, 2020 (Danish). 
13. ^ Merete Lindstrøm: Kim Kielsen indkalder til samling. In: Sermitsiaq. March 25, 2020, accessed March 26, 2020 (Danish). 
14. ↑ Kassaaluk Kristiansen: Hastelov: Tvangsbehandlinger og flere forbud. In: Sermitsiaq. March 27, 2020, accessed March 30, 2020 (Danish). 
15. ^ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Kielsen indfører alkoholforbud i Nuuk. In: Sermitsiaq. March 28, 2020, accessed March 30, 2020 (Danish). 
16. ↑ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Kyst-skoler åbnes - flyforbud forlænges. In: Sermitsiaq. April 7, 2020, accessed April 16, 2020 (Danish). 
17. ↑ Christine Hyldal: Landslægen: Alle coronasmittede i Nuuk er raske. In: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa. April 8, 2020, accessed April 16, 2020 (Danish). 
18. ↑ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Så kan der igen købes øl and vin i Nuuk. In: Sermitsiaq. April 14, 2020, accessed April 16, 2020 (Danish). 
19. ↑ Jørgen Schultz-Nielsen: Status: Over 1000 corona test he is now tagging. In: Sermitsiaq. April 16, 2020, accessed April 16, 2020 (Danish). 
20. ↑ Thomas Munk Veirum: Grønlandsk familie i corona-sorg. In: Sermitsiaq. April 16, 2020, accessed April 16, 2020 (Danish). 
21. ↑ Merete Lindstrøm: Selvstyret åbner op for rejser ud af lands. In: Sermitsiaq. May 4, 2020, accessed May 9, 2020 (Danish). 
22. ^ Merete Lindstrøm: Nyt tilfælde af corona opdaget i Aasiaat. In: Sermitsiaq. May 24, 2020, accessed on May 25, 2020 (Danish). 
23. ↑ Thomas Munk Veirum: June 15th begynder genåbning af atlantflyvning. In: Sermitsiaq. May 25, 2020, accessed May 27, 2020 (Danish). 
24. ↑ Thomas Munk Veirum: Coronasmitte opdaget i Ilulissat. In: Sermitsiaq. May 27, 2020, accessed May 27, 2020 (Danish). 
25. ↑ Anne Meisner Synnestvedt: To coronasmittede he meldt raske: Ingen virus i Grønland. In: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa. June 4, 2020, accessed June 5, 2020 (Danish). 
26. ^ Daily Johns Hopkins University records on GitHub