Denmark has announced plans to lift all remaining coronavirus limits on 1 February.

The country will no longer categorise Covid-19 as a “socially critical” illness, despite a recent surge in infections, wrote health minister Magnus Heunicke in a letter to the Danish parliament’s epidemiology committee.

The move, which will allow concerts and other events to go ahead without capacity restrictions, has been hailed as “unbelievably positive” by trade association Dansk Live.

“It’s unbelievably positive,” head of secretariat Esben Marcher tells Ekstra Bladet. “This means that the venues can once again do standing concerts. So now it is approaching that you can do things as you usually do. And we are of course happy about that.”

“THERE WILL BE A FOCUS ON HOW WE CAN REVIVE VOLUNTEERING AFTER ALMOST THREE YEARS WITH CORONA”

However, Marcher stresses the sector will require financial assistance to help its get back on its feet and help fund courses for volunteers, with many venues and festivals dependent on volunteering to survive. The issue was raised during the

Speaking ahead of last weekend’s members forum, Kamilla Roed, head of volunteers and operations at Copenhell heavy metal festival, said: “There will of course be a focus on how we can revive volunteering after almost three years with corona. Whether it is a venue or a festival, there have been shutdowns and major changes. We need to share good experiences and ideas with each other so we all get back to our full potential.”

The news comes a day after several European markets eased restrictions. The Dutch government announced the conditional reopening of the cultural sector and the Norwegian government also rolled back restrictions and increased capacity limits for events, while Northern Ireland also announced a relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions

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