COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark on Tuesday became one of the first European Union countries to scrap most pandemic restrictions as the Scandinavian country no longer considers the COVID-19 outbreak “a socially critical disease.”

The reason for that is that while the omicron variant is surging in Denmark, it's not placing a heavy burden on the health system and the country has a high vaccination rate, officials have said.

Denmark has in recent weeks seen more than 50,000 daily cases on average while the number of people in hospital intensive care units has dropped.

The head of the Danish Health Authority, Søren Brostrøm, told Danish broadcaster TV2 that his attention was on the number of people in ICUs, rather than on the number of infections. He said that number had “fallen and fallen and is incredibly low.” He said 32 of the coronavirus patients are in ICUs. Several weeks ago, it was up at 80.

The most visible restriction disappearing is the wearing of face masks, which are no longer mandatory on public transportation, shops and for standing clients in restaurant indoor areas. Authorities only recommend mask use in hospitals, health care facilities and nursing homes.

Another restriction that no longer is required is the digital pass used to enter nightclubs, cafes, party buses and to be seated indoors in restaurants.

“I dare not say that it is a final goodbye to restrictions. We do not know what will happen to the fall. Whether there will be a new variant,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish radio.

Health authorities urged Danes to get tested regularly to keep an epidemic surveillance and if needed, "react quickly if necessary,” as Health Minister Minister Magnus Heunicke said last week.

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TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday he has tested positive for COVID-19 but is “feeling fine” and will continue to work remotely from home.

Trudeau said two of his children have COVID-19 and a test Monday revealed he has been infected as well.

The prime minister, who has received two vaccine shots and a booster shot, used a televised virtual news conference to denounce anti-vaccine protesters who filled Canada's capital to complain about COVID restrictions.

“Canadians were shocked and quite frankly disgusted by the behavior displayed by some people in our nation's capital,” Trudeau said. “I want to be clear. We are not intimated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small businesses and steal from the homeless. We won’t give in those who fly racist flags. We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonor the memory of our veterans.”

Some demonstrators travelled in truck convoys and parked on the streets around Parliament Hill, blocking traffic — and a smaller but significant number remained on Monday.

Many Canadians were outraged by images over the weekend of some protesters urinating on the National War Memorial and dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, while a number carried signs and flags with swastikas.

Many refused to wear masks in hotels, malls and grocery stores and one homeless shelter reported protesters had demanded it feed them.

Canada has one of the world's highest rates of vaccination against the coronavirus — shots that are primarily designed to keep those who become infected from falling seriously ill.

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BERLIN (AP) — The German government is set to miss a target of giving at least one shot of coronavirus vaccine to 80% of the population by the end of January.

With one day to go before the end of the month, official statistics on Monday showed that 75.8% of Germany's 83 million residents have received at least one shot, 74% are fully vaccinated and 52.8% have also received a booster.

The target “has been missed,” government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit acknowledged at a regular news conference. The vaccination rate is “significantly better than it was before, but it isn't 80%.”

Causes include unwillingness to get vaccinated and "perhaps also communication weaknesses,” Hebestreit said. He noted that the pace of vaccinations, which in December sometimes topped 1 million per day, slowed over Christmas and hasn't recovered as much as officials hoped. Over the past week, an average 351,000 shots per day were administered.

While the number of people getting boosters has risen quickly, the proportion of the population getting a first shot has only crept higher in recent weeks.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany's 16 state governors decided a week ago to keep various restrictions in place in the face of rising infections, but not to expand them. Scholz also announced a new advertising campaign to encourage vaccination.

The health minister has said that a wave caused by the omicron variant is likely to peak in mid- to late February. “At the moment, I would warn against thinking too early that it's over,” Hebestreit said.

German lawmakers last week debated a possible universal vaccination mandate, which Scholz supports but has left to parliament to design. It's unclear when any legislation will go to a vote, but it will be spring at least before any mandate comes into effect.

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NEW DELHI (AP) — It’s mandatory to wear a mask in India. And police are out on the streets, watching people to make sure they are in place.

People caught without wearing a mask are fined. Some local governments, like the one in the capital New Delhi, have recruited new staff to ensure the rules are followed.

But the scrutiny doesn’t extend to the type of mask that is worn, nor the safety criteria. Some people wear N95 masks, which is considered the best protection against the coronavirus, and some wear surgical masks. But more common are cloth masks — which are less effective against the ultra-contagious omicron variant. They're made of different fabrics — cotton, silk, even porous muslin.

Atul Teron, 52, said he can’t buy a mask in his village and that he’d rather tie a scarf around his face. “My traditional scarf gives more protection than the other masks,” he said.

Most people in India say they wear masks to avoid paying fines. And, consequently, masks loll on chins, hang below the nose and sometimes rest atop heads like eyeglasses.

India is averaging more than 250,000 new infections daily, with omicron driving the infections. The surge is highlighting a need for a renewed emphasis on masks and, importantly, how best to wear them.

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ROME (AP) — Italian police said Monday they had broken up a ring of businessmen accused of cheating the government out of 440 million euros in tax credits that were granted as part of government measures to help struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Police said 35 people were targeted with arrest warrants, home detention or other restrictive measures and that authorities carried out 80 searches across the country, from Trentino in the north to Sicily in the south and points in between.

The investigation was sparked by suspicious transaction reports that were shown to be from nonexistent companies or failing companies, financial police said in a statement. Those companies had been taken over by front men who posed as the legal representative and entered the necessary data in the Italian government’s tax database to apply for tax credits.

Subsequent investigation showed that a criminal organization, involving some 12 core businessmen, “was totally dedicated to the creation and marketing of false tax credits, subsequently monetized by transferring them to unsuspecting buyers unrelated to the scam,” the statement said.

The Italian government passed a series of measures to try to keep Italian businesses afloat after Italy became the first epicenter of the outbreak in Europe in February 2020 and imposed the first nationwide lockdown and production shutdown in the West.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Finland will end all COVID-19 restrictions next month, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Monday.

Marin said her Social Democratic-led government would negotiate with the other parties in parliament the timetable for the removal of the restrictions.

At the same time, border controls at the internal borders between Finland and the other Schengen countries end Monday. That restriction was introduced at the end of December to slow down the spread of the omicron variant. Travelers coming from outside the EU will continue to meet border controls at least until Feb. 14. February, Finnish broadcaster YLE said.

In neighboring Denmark, restrictions were to be scrapped Tuesday, including allowing Danes to enjoy free access to restaurants, cafes, museums and nightclubs, while mask use will cease to be mandatory.

The restrictions were originally introduced in July but were removed about 10 weeks later after a successful vaccination drive. They were reintroduced when infections soared.

Sweden said last week it will extend its own measures for another fortnight, with Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren saying the country, which had previously stood out among European nations for its comparatively hands-off pandemic response, has “an extremely record high spread of infection.”

Sweden has ordered cafes, bars and restaurants to close at 11 p.m., and urged people to work from home when possible.

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