Aboard a ferry heading to Denmark’s second-largest city earlier this month, Allan Hjorth stood out. He was one of just a few passengers to wear a mask, while hundreds of others left their faces uncovered, enjoying the end of COVID-19 restrictions announced a few days earlier.
"The mere fact of wearing a mask makes people feel that something is wrong,” Hjorth said. He took his own off after a few seconds and added, "And we, in Denmark, want to believe that we are going back to normal.”
Nearly two years into the pandemic, "normal” looks like this in one of the world’s most prosperous nations: 5.8 million people live free of COVID-19 restrictions, even though nearly 1% of them tested positive for the coronavirus in a single day earlier this month. The country is reporting one of the world’s highest COVID-19 cases per capita, and hospitalizations have reached an all-time high.