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COVID-19 Country Report to the Danish Government

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world and with it, Denmark and its neighboring countries. In June of this year, the Danish parliament (Folketinget) decided to initiate an evaluation of the handling of the COVID-19 crisis by the government and national authorities. To conduct the investigation the Folketinget appointed a taskforce of five persons made up of professors of virology and immunology, health economics and health law. The aim of the investigation is:

  • To analyze the basis of the decisions made by the government and the authorities and the relationship between the professional and scientific advice provided to the government and the political and administrative decisions made.
  • To map and analyze governmental decision-making during the early stages of the crisis.
  • To map and analyze the interaction between the government and Folketinget, including an analysis of the conditions for parliamentary control during the first months of the crisis.
  • On the basis of these analyses to maximize the potential for learning in the case of similar crises in the future
    • By identifying weaknesses in the political and administrative handling of the crisis.
    • By developing proposals for a more appropriate handling of similar crisis situations in the future.

As the crisis developed similarly in many countries, the Danish parliament also asked for a comparison of the experiences of other countries, specifically focusing on Denmark’s neighboring countries Germany, Norway and Sweden. For Germany, Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuhlmann and Prof. habil. Dr. Jochen Franzke were fortunate enough to be tasked with this investigation.