Coronavirus doesn’t stop octogenarian couple from meeting at Danish-German border amid lockdown
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Love goes on in the time of COVID-19 – even if it means meeting it halfway.
Inga Rasmussen is 85 and lives in Denmark. Karsten Tüchsen Hansen is 89 and lives in Germany. The couple used to visit each other daily until the European countries closed their borders two weeks ago to slow the spread of the worsening coronavirus pandemic.
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But that hasn’t stopped the couple from seeing one another.
Rasmussen and Hansen now meet at the border, keeping their distance by sitting on either side of a barricaded crossing in the northern German town of Aventoft. They meet for lunch, share coffee and biscuits, or Geele Köm – a local alcoholic beverage.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rasmussen, left, and Hansen sit at the German-Danish border crossing in Aventoft on March 27. (Frank Molter/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)
"It's sad, but we can't change it," Rasmussen told German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Rasmussen drives her car from her home in the Danish town of Galleus, while Hansen rides his bike from Süderlügum every day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The man cycles 60 km (37 miles) every day. He will soon be 90 years old,” Rasmussen laughed as she told Danish newspaper Der Nordschleswiger of Hansen.
The couple first met two years ago at a street stall in Galleus and have spent every day together since March 13 last year, they told local media outlets.
Their meetings went viral on social media after the mayor of the southern Danish town of Tønder, Henrik Frandsen, spotted the couple while on a bike ride last week. A photo he posted to Facebook has 2,000 likes as of Tuesday.
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Both widowed, the two have taken trips together in the past and told the local papers they already are planning to travel again once the outbreak is over and restrictions are lifted.
The virus has sickened more than 68,000 people in Germany, killing 682 as of Tuesday, while Denmark has at least 3,039 confirmed cases and 90 deaths.
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