COVID-19 pandemic in Greenland

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Greenland – an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark – in March 2020.[2] There have been 12 confirmed cases, but none in need of hospitalization. Among the first 11, the last infected person had recovered on 8 April and Greenland had no known active cases.[1] After a long period without any new confirmed cases, one new case was confirmed on 24 May when a Greenlander who had returned from (mainland) Denmark was tested positive during the re-entry check.[3]

COVID-19 in Greenland
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationGreenland
Index caseNuuk
Arrival date16 March 2020
(3 months, 1 week and 5 days)
Confirmed cases13[1]
Recovered13[1]
Deaths
0

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[4][5]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[6][7] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[8][6]

Timeline

COVID-19 cases in Greenland  ()
     Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases
Date
# of cases
2020-03-16
1(n.a.)
2020-03-18
2(+100%)
2(=)
2020-03-22
4(+100%)
2020-03-24
5(+25%)
2020-03-25
6(+20%)
2020-03-27
10(+66%)
2020-03-27
10(=)
10(=)
2020-04-03
10(=)
2020-04-04
11(+10%)
2020-04-06
11(=)
2020-04-07
11(=)
2020-04-08
11(=)
11(=)
2020-05-24
12(+5%)
12(=)
2020-05-27
13(+5%)
13(=)
2020-06-04
13(=)

On 16 March, the first case in the territory was confirmed.[2][10] The first infected patient lived in the capital, Nuuk, and was placed in home isolation.

"Preparations have been initiated to cope with the new situation. It is important that citizens follow our recommendations now that the infection has reached our country," said Greenland's Prime Minister Kim Kielsen at a press conference, according to newspaper Sermitsiaq. All non-essential flights to and from Greenland, as well as domestic flights, are strongly advised against. Public gatherings of more than 100 people are discouraged and citizens returning from high-risk areas are recommended to self-isolate for two weeks.[11]

On 28 March, the government prohibited the sale of alcoholic drinks until 15 April in Greenland.[12]

As of 9 April, there have been 11 confirmed cases, all in Nuuk, all of whom have recovered, making Greenland the first affected territory in the world to become free of COVID-19 without any deaths.[1] As of 19 April, there have been no new infections in Greenland for two weeks.[13]

See also

References

  1. "Coronavirus-ip nutaap siaruarnera malinnaaffigiuk" (in Danish and Kalaallisut). Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  2. Redaktionen (10 March 2020). "Corona-alarm afblæst - test var negativ". Sermitsiaq (in Danish). Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  3. "Nyt tilfælde af corona opdaget i Aasiaat" (in Danish). Sermitsiaq. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  5. Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  7. "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  9. "Total Coronavirus Cases in Greenland". worldometers. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  10. "Første coronatilfælde bekræftet i Grønland". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  11. "Greenland confirms first case of coronavirus". The Straits Times. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  12. France-Presse, Agence (29 March 2020). "Alcohol sales banned in Greenland capital during lockdown". The Guardian.
  13. "Engin ný kórónuveirusmit á Grænlandi í tvær vikur" [No new coronavirus infections in Greenland in two weeks] (in Icelandic). RÚV. 19 April 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.