Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has praised Denmark's response to the new coronavirus. Ulrich, a native of that country, said that the way it has handled the crisis is “inspiring for the rest of us.”
Ulrich, who was born in Denmark and lived there until the age of 16 when he moved to Los Angeles, discussed the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday (April 28th) during a livestreamed chat with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.
The drummer explained, “Denmark was one of the first countries anywhere in the world to actually go into complete shutdown, and they have registered the lowest case numbers in all of Western Europe. Just about a week a half ago now, they started opening up daycare and kindergartens and schools. And so far it's going well.”
Ulrich continued, “When I think of Denmark, I just think of the word 'we.' Everything in Denmark is always 'we' and 'us' and less about 'I' and 'me.' And so when I think of what Denmark has done through this crisis, I'm very proud to call myself a Dane. And I think that the progress that's being made there is certainly encouraging and inspiring for the rest of us.”
Denmark recently began slowly lifting restrictions that curbed the spread of the virus after shutting most of the country down early in the crisis. Schools for children up to age 11 have reopened, as have small businesses such as hairdressers and tattoo parlors. Denmark also widened its testing to include people showing mild symptoms.
At press time, there were a total of 9,206 confirmed coronavirus cases in Denmark and 443 deaths in a population of 5.8 million.
