COPENHAGEN, 1. Feb (AFP) -- Denmark on Tuesday (Feb 1) will become the first European Union country to lift all of its COVID-19 restrictions despite record numbers of cases, relying on its high vaccination rate to cope with the milder Omicron variant.

After a first attempt at lifting all its restrictions between September and November, the Scandinavian country is once again ditching its face masks, COVID-19 passes and limited opening hours for bars and restaurants.

"I'm so happy that this is all going to be over tomorrow. It's good for life in the city, for nightlife, just to be able to be out longer", 17-year-old student Thea Skovgaard told AFP the day before the lifting.

Nightclubs reopen on Tuesday, when limits on the number of people allowed at indoor gatherings also come to an end.

Only a few restrictions remain in place at the country's borders, for unvaccinated travellers arriving from non-Schengen countries.

The easing comes as Denmark registers around 40,000 to 50,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, or almost 1 per cent of the country's 5.8 million inhabitants.

"We have an extremely high coverage of adults vaccinated with three doses," epidemiologist Lone Simonsen of the University of Roskilde told AFP.