Denmark removes last of its obligatory mask rules

Masks will no longer be required on Danish public transport, the government said on Friday, as the Nordic country lifted the last of its compulsory face-covering regulations.

"We are now in a situation... where a large part of the population has been vaccinated and we are returning to a more normal everyday life," transport minister Benny Engelbrecht said in a statement.

From Saturday, "We can say goodbye to masks on buses, trains and the metro," he added.

The change was originally scheduled for September 1.

On Wednesday, health authorities loosened social-distancing regulations in the Scandinavian kingdom of 5.8 million people, which has seen about 1,000 new infections a day.

Over 60 percent of the population has received a full course of the vaccine.

"We now have good control of the infection across society," Helene Bilsted Probst, deputy director of the national health agency said in a statement.

"Therefore, we can adapt the prevention recommendations in such a way that people can maintain a normal daily life while respecting the principle of prevention."

Masks will remain obligatory on planes and in the country's airports, where international air-transport rules apply.