(Bloomberg) -- Denmark will end virus restrictions next week and reclassify Covid-19 as a disease that no longer poses a threat to society, even as infections in the Nordic nation are at record high.

The Nordic country won’t extend the pandemic measures beyond Jan. 31, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a news conference in Copenhagen on Wednesday, confirming earlier reports by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper and Bloomberg News. 

Denmark’s hospitalizations are declining, indicating that omicron is less dangerous than earlier variants of the virus despite a million Danes infected in the last two months. The nation of 5.8 million people that’s managed the economic impact of Covid as one of the best in the rich world has 44 Covid-19 patients hospitalized in intensive care units, down from 73 two weeks ago.

“The pandemic is still here but with what we know, we now dare to believe that we are through the critical phase,” Frederiksen said.

Read More: Denmark Is Said to End Curbs as Hospitals Can Control Omicron

Denmark is ahead of its Nordic neighbors, with the Swedish authorities saying earlier on Wednesday they will extend the restrictions due to a surge in infections but expect to be able to remove most curbs in two weeks. Norway can start gradually stepping down restrictions as only “extreme” measures would slow the spread of the omicron variant, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said earlier.

Denmark’s current restrictions include limited opening hours for restaurants and bars, use of Covid passports and the requirement of face masks in stores and at some indoor events. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.