Sunderland AFC superfan describes life during the coronavirus outbreak in Denmark

Roland Rasmussen is the Dane who loves Sunderland so much, he came to Wearside to find out what it would be like to “be a Mackem for a while” and ended up staying for six months.

He’s been following the Black Cats since 1967 and he’s very much ‘Sunderland til jeg dør’ - or Sunderland Til I Die in English. He has even written a book on life in Sunderland.

But Roland, like the rest of the people of Denmark, is currently confined to his own country where latest figures show 2,815 people being treated for the virus in hospital and 77 dead.

He described how Denmark was getting through it all and said: “Creativity is on the rise. We are having online parties, online-singing, exercise.

“Right now my wife, Henny, is lying on the dining-room floor doing online yoga for the coming hour.

“Luckily there is no singing from the balconies. The weather is still cold in Denmark.

“Most people are very disciplined and taking it serious. We spend most of our time washing hands and shopping online.”

Roland added: “On the evening of March 11, the Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced an immediate closure of most of the public sector. People were sent home to work from home except for essential functions. Everybody was on full pay.

“Schools, all educational institutions and daycare for children were closed. Teaching continued on electronic platforms and a lot of creativity was shown by both teachers and pupil.

“Accordingly, a lot of parents were forced to stay at home, to work from home and take care of the children. Only in special circumstances the kindergartens were able to take care of a few children.

“Within a few days the entire entertainment business including football, pubs, restaurants and the like were closed down as well, except for takeaway. Some pubs invented ”takeaway-pints” to empty their beer-barrels!!

“The same evening people started to hoard yeast (we are a nation of bakers!) and toilet rolls.”

See our interactive map showing the latest number of COVID-19 cases in Sunderland around the UK.

Denmark’s restrictions on its people vary slightly from the UK.

“Social distance, no more than groups of ten, washing, washing, washing and children should play in groups of no more than three,” said Roland.

“But it is interesting that the UK now has tougher restrictions on the whereabouts of people. So Boris has overtaken the lead position compared to us after a slow start.”

Denmark’s support for workers was also explained by Roland.

He said: “In the week-end of March 14/15, the government presented a huge financial economic packet with full political consent by all parties. Basically all companies were payed a ¾-compensation for the wages of the workers that they have to send home, as long as they did not lay them off.

“The companies (big and small) will be paying the last ¼. And a lot of other subsidies to hard hit companies and lines of business. VAT payments were suspended until further notice.

“Fortunately the Danish economy was/is very strong and there has been a huge public surplus for many years due to early reforms of the Labour-market.”

Are you a Wearsider living overseas who would like to tell us more about how they are dealing with the coronavirus.

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

How to subscribe to the print edition

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.