Gertrud
Sparre-Ulrich

In Denmark most things have been closed since March 14^th. There is no curfew, but social gatherings of more than 10 people are not allowed. I am living alone in my semi-finished apartment in Copenhagen, Denmark. When the pandemic broke out, I was in the middle of renovating my apartment, but this is now on hold for a while – So I live in a construction mess, but it could be a lot worse.

In mid-March my father and brother got sick, so in order to stop the spread I chose to self-quarantine for almost three weeks. My father had all the symptoms of COVID-19, but at the time, it wasn't possible to be tested as long as you could still breathe on your own. During these weeks I would only go out to buy groceries and occasionally bike to my father's place to drop some things off. Now he is feeling better and I even went to stay at his place for Easter. After he started feeling well, he was offered to be tested for COVID-19, but he has so far declined the offer.

Honestly, I didn't have such a hard time not seeing anyone for a couple of weeks, but I was also rather busy with work. Today, a month after Denmark was shut down, I allow myself to go for «walk-and-talks» with friends, but not more than two at a time.

Overall, we were really quick at reacting to the outbreakin Denmark, so our healthcare system hasn't been overwhelmed. Most citizens have been taking it seriously and moved their work & social lives online. Even our Queen gave a speech addressing the coronavirus situation which is extremely unusual – It is the first time since the end of WW2 that a regent has directly addressed the population outside the annual New Year's speech.

We are actually starting to graduallyopen the country again. From Wednesday 15^thof April the youngest kids will be sent back to school and day-care. Some children and their parents are scared of having the schools opened again. Yesterday my 11-year-old cousin wrote that he hates the thought of going back to school as he «doesn't want to die». The rest of the family tried to assure him that he will be fine, and that the schools have taken their precautionsbefore opening again. These precautions include: Outdoor classes whenever possible, two meters between each seat, varying recess times, and the children can only play with their own classmates. Opening the schools has really divided the country. Some feel that the kids are used as human guinea pigs and others believe it makes sense to start with them, as they so far have shown milder symptoms than adults.

My actual job has not been affected that much by the virus. I just started working at a production company that makes features and TV-series, often international co-productions. My job is to assist the experienced producers and directors with anything from research, to applying for funding, or do practical tasks. We had a film premiering in theaters just a couple of days before the country was shut down, which was quite unfortunate. Now the movie has been released for online rentalinstead. A lot of other films have postponed their release date or gone directly to online rental. For instance, the documentary festival CPH:DOX managed to make their entire festival digital. It will be interesting to follow how the pandemic might change the ways we distribute films in the future.