What to do about higher infection rates among immigrants?
In Denmark, migrants account for 8.9 percent of the total population but 23 percent of coronavirus cases. Municipal employees are now going door to door inneighbourhoods that are considered high risk, distributing information and offering tests. The press welcomes the initiative and demands more commitment from the migrants, too.
Demand solidarity
Berlingske notes that cramped living conditions and jobs that people can't do from home are making it easier for the virus to spread among migrants, but stresses that these population groups should nonetheless be expected to act responsibly:
“We must not succumb to the temptation to treat Danes with a migration background as if they were merely victims of unfortunate circumstances and therefore have no opportunity or time to show solidarity with others. ... We all have a duty to show solidarity in these times of a pandemic, when the actions of individuals can put others at risk.”
Time to talk turkey
For Jyllands-Posten the numbers are proof of a failed integration policy:
“If a coronavirus test were to be made a prerequisite for receiving social benefits, the impact would probably be enormous. We need to talk turkey. What we see here is that it's possible to live in Denmark without really being here. ... Coronavirus affects everyone, that's the key point. It's a virus that can't be appeased with references to 'cultural differences'. It spreads through contact, regardless of whether that contact is the result of Middle Eastern culture or an irrepressible desire to party among young people. The enormous over-representation of coronavirus cases among migrants from the Middle East unfortunately proves once again that Denmark is a divided country.”