Scotland and the rest of the UK will have to endure the coronavirus lockdown for at least three more weeks. 

But in Denmark, some of the restrictions are already being lifted as the numbers of Covid-19 hospitalizations continue to fall. 

Yesterday, some nurseries and primary schools opened up again, although bars, restaurants and shopping centres remain closed. 

Scotland and Denmark have similar populations, yet have experienced very different levels of casualties throughout the pandemic.

Roughly 300 Danes have been killed by the virus since the outbreak began, compared to at least 962 in this country. 

We spoke to Lars Thuesen, Denmark's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, to discuss whether he thought his home nation's strategy had been effective. 

"It's too early to say, but so far we have been successful because we introduced very tough restrictions at a very early stage," he said. 

"Some people criticised the government for doing that, but at this point we got better results than most experts expected.

"We are definitely not out of the woods yet."

The Herald: Ambassador Lars ThuesenAmbassador Lars Thuesen

Denmark was one fo the first European countries to impose a lockdown, which started on March 13.

At the time, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made a promise to the nation.

"There was a pact between the Prime Minister and the population," Ambassador Thuesen added.

"If the Danes stuck to restrictions and we saw clear improvements in the numbers, we would be able to lift some of the restrictions 

"She made it very clear and said that if people did not stick to the restrictions they would not be lifted. 

"People did stick to these restrictions and when we got numbers which were more positive than some scientific experts expected, we we were able to start to lift [some aspects of the lockdown]."

Some parents in Denmark are concerned about their kids going back to school, although it's currently believed that children are less likely to contract Covid-19 than other age-groups. 

However, despite these fears there appears to be a positive relationship between power and the people in Denmark. 

Here in the UK, there is growing tension in Britain between citizens and the police, with many videos of alleged overreach by officers going viral on social media. 

"Generally, in Danish society, you have great trust in the actions of the government and authorities which has been helpful during the last month," the Ambassador said. 

"We have police to enforce restrictions, but they can't control everything. 

"In general, Danes have been very careful to follow the restrictions in a very honourable way."

However, even though Danes are lifting restrictions in a way that's not being publically considered here in the UK, it is also imposing new ones.

For instance, there has been a new ban placed on large gatherings has been rolled out which will stop it from staging large music events such as the Roskilde Festival.

"There is now a political discussion going on between what should be next restrictions to be lifted," the Ambassador said. 

"The recent numbers were a huge lift in general for the population, because it seems there might be light at the end of the tunnel."

Sadly, the same cannot yet be said for the UK and Scotland.

The coronavirus lockdown will continue for at least another three weeks, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed today, saying the “clear advice” was to maintain restrictions into May. 

It remains to be seen whether our strategy will be effective.