Hi there,
A couple of weeks ago I was in Berlin for a few days. It felt like a return to last winter: masks everywhere, strict and confusing rules about who could get in where, a general sense of gloom. Returning to Copenhagen, breathing in the Baltic air without a strip of plasticky fabric between my nose and the atmosphere, was a huge relief. I had made the right choice to move away from Germany - where another Christmas has more or less been cancelled due to low vaxx rates and rising Covid deaths - to Denmark earlier this year.
Despite the new Coronapas requirement for indoor eating, drinking and merrymaking (which anecdotal evidence suggests is hardly being enforced) and the occasional surgical mask popping up on elderly faces, Copenhagen feels like an island of calm compared to Berlin - where everyone fears another winter lockdown and tempers are running high about the vast number of vaccine refuseniks.
But things aren’t looking so fantastisk in CPH, either. A school in Fredricksberg has been closed thanks to a Covid outbreak. Prinz Henrik Skole’s 575 pupils have to stay home through November 23. Kids have also been sent home from Brønshøj Skole in the city’s northwest.
Currently, 47 municipalities across the country report an incidence rate of over 400 new infections per 100,000 people over the past 7 days. Copenhagen’s is 686.3 - and the city is taking some seemingly insubstantial steps at schools and daycare to reduce the risk of infection. Classes are no longer supposed to mix and parents are advised to not enter school buildings when picking up their children. Enough to dampen the fourth wave? I don't see how. For a thorough picture of Denmark’s corona situation check out Faaborg-based journalist Shane Woodford’s excellent English-language updates.
City council: Social Democrats get slammed but remain in charge
Following Tuesday’s municipal and regional elections, the Social Democrats have managed to hang on to the Copenhagen mayorship, even though leftwing Enhedslisten garnered a higher portion of the vote. Although the number of Social Democratic seats fell from 15 to just 10 in the 55-seat city council, an alliance of other parties is supporting Social Democrat Sophie Hæstorp Andersen in her bid to remain mayor. Still, with 15 seats, Enhedslisten has grown to become the strongest party on the council, and a force to reckon with in local politics. The party opposes the construction of the Lynetteholm artificial island, which received the green light in June. They and environmentalist campaigners say the project, which is intended to protect Copenhagen Harbour from rising sea levels in the coming decades, comes at a high ecological cost. Meanwhile, the EU Commission has rejected complaints by climate activists that the island scheme breaks European environmental regulations. Lynetteholm, which is also meant to be the site of housing for 35,000 people, will take decades to build and won’t be completed till 2070.
Meatless Michelin
Geranium, the “second best restaurant in the world”, apparently somewhere in Østerbro, will stop serving meat from January 2022. As someone who's dabbled in vegetarianism/veganism for decades, I'm all for it, though I'll never eat a dinner that costs more than a bicycle - not in this lifetime. Some decent veggie sandwiches at Irma would do me fine - even 7-11 has (soggy) vegan wraps now.
Not your mom’s Roskilde Festival
The poor old Roskilde Festival has really taken a beating in the Corona era…. but even after two cancelled summers, somehow its makers have managed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and throw together Grasp, a programme of hip-sounding talks, workshops and performances loosely connected to the notion of making the world a better place. Take a deep dive into ideas like de-growth and artistic citizenship while taking in some au courant tunes. Never was social change so stylish. Grasp starts, erm, today, but runs till Saturday. Unsurprisingly, it’s in Roskilde. Events appear to be mostly in English, so grab a day ticket and check into a better future. The info.
If that all sounds a little too highbrow to grasp, on Tuesday there's a random stand-up show featuring an American scientist who became a comedian…
That's all for now,
Maurice
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dr-matts-life-of-science-stand-up-comedy-in-english-copenhagen-tickets-189756535907?twclid=11459468006602555397