The Danish government plans to lift its COVID restrictions on February 1, despite registering a record number of infections but with vaccine rates high, the health ministry said Wednesday.

"I would like... COVID-19 to no longer be categorised as a disease dangerous to society as of February 1", Health Minister Magnus Heunicke wrote in a letter to lawmakers, proposing the de facto lifting of all domestic restrictions, such as mask-wearing and early closings for bars and restaurants.

The country of 5.8 million people registered 46,000 new cases on Tuesday, "but our current assessment is that the epidemic will soon peak", Heunicke wrote on Twitter.

"We have good control over hospitalisation rates, thanks to a combination of 3.5 million Danes revaccinated and the less severe nature of Omicron."

More than 60% of Danes have received a third dose, one month ahead of the health authorities' schedule.

In addition, while the number of people hospitalised with a COVID infection continues to rise and has now exceeded 900, the Danish Health Authority said that 35% of those were actually in hospital for another diagnosis.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.