COVID-19 is a social disease, which we spread by doing things together. There’s good reason it follows we should be able to manage it better by doing things differently together too. Denmark stands out as an example of what may be achieved through community spirit. Moreover, this social mindedness and Denmark’s COVID-19 status suggest there may be something we can learn from this Nordic nation.
Social Mindedness, Denmark’s COVID-19 and Word of the Year
Each year Denmark’s Dansk Sprognævn language council chooses the nation’s word of the year. Samfundssind is an early contender for 2020, and it means ‘putting the concern of society higher than one’s own interests’.
The word came to the fore on March 11, 2020, when Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen appealed to her compatriots. COVID-19 was on the doorstep. ‘We need community spirit,’ she said according to BBC Travel . ‘We need help.’
‘I would like to thank… all who have shown that this is exactly what we have in Denmark – samfundssind.’ The numbers show social mindedness helped manage Denmark’s COVID-19 pandemic. Do you think that was because the people complied with government guidelines without making a fuss.
Do These Numbers from World Odometer Confirm This?
World Odometer is a credible source of statistical information. It places Denmark 79th on its global performance table, right between Bosnia, and Herzegovina and Serbia. This is a remarkable achievement for a developed nation of 5,798 million people similar to Colorado and Minnesota population size.
Denmark had logged 39,411 cases, with 700 deaths by October 25, 2020. At the time of writing, there were 7,072 active cases of which 17 were serious / critical. Anecdotal evidence suggests citizens did loads of small things with a multiplier effect.
Associate professor David Olagnier and professor Trine H Mogensen from Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University explain it this way. ‘Denmark is a country where trust regulates everything.’ Could this mean Danes trusted their government, and one another to do the right thing?
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Preview Image: Levels of Trust
