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– Greece is a highly sought after tourist area. Of course, our health authorities have to do an assessment, but if they find they’ve made a good enough record, it shouldn’t be unnatural to test them before many other countries, he says
Olsvik
Greece has managed the coronavirus in an apparently exemplary manner, with very low infection rates.
– Greece wants Norwegian tourists, and it would mean a lot to many in Norway to be able to go there. Some countries have not been good at reporting infections, but Greece has actually been one of the countries that has been good, says Olsvik.
However, the professor believes it will take time before Norway opens its borders to its closest neighbor.
– Sweden has a much higher level of infection than Norway. Many people want Norway to open up to Sweden, for example, many Norwegians have a cabin there, but Sweden has no border control of other countries. That means you can come
from Italy or Spain to Sweden, and then travel directly to Norway. It will be a problem and therefore, as far as I can see, Sweden will not be able to open for a while, says the professor.
– Must settle for a Norwegian vacation
If the EU Commission plan is implemented and Norway wants to open so-called corridors to other individual countries, it is currently difficult to say when this will happen.
The Norwegian government will provide its travel advice for the summer holidays on Friday.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg told NTB on Wednesday that what determines whether restrictions on travel abroad will be maintained is the infection situation in the countries.
– We don’t need to import infections into Norway when we have the situation under control, and that will worry us, says Solberg.
She will not give a date for when it can be reopened for overseas vacations.
– Basically one should consider that there will be a Norwegian holiday at least in the first part of this holiday. We are now working on the development of the infection in different countries and in cooperation with different countries. It is perfectly allowed to travel to Sweden, only that
they quarantine you when you come home, “says Solberg.
– Bad idea
NTNU professor Steinar Westin believes that it would be unwise to open Norway to other countries, just when we have had what he calls a successful closure.
– We have received an infection pressure that is exceptionally low, and perhaps one of the lowest in Europe. If we were to open the borders now and attract tourists here, it would be a very bad idea, says Westin.
Whatever happens, expect Norway to maintain the quarantine rules to enter. In practice, this will make holiday travel to Norway unattractive, as it will then be quarantined after arrival.
– How about opening a corridor between Norway and Denmark?
– I think it’s also a very bad idea. Denmark has actually had a different strategy than Norway. They have had what we call a braking strategy, where they have tried to control the infection but they have not tried to bring it down as we have done.
in Norway. Westin warns that they have much more circulating infectious material than we have in Norway.
Important with vaccine
Biology professor Nils Chr. Stenseth of the University of Oslo says that sooner or later the limits must be opened. Also remember that the risk of infection increases significantly the moment you open it to travel to other countries.
– Then there will be a great movement of people who will come into contact with each other, especially at airports. Some may be sick, well-informed or not, Stenseth says, stressing that he doesn’t object to us opening more.
– On the contrary, it is important that we are aware of the experiments we are conducting.
Stenseth is clear that you really should minimize travel until you have prepared an effective medication or vaccine. Only then do you want to control the situation.
– There is enormous prestige and competition in different laboratories to find a vaccine. The environment that manages to create it has a nice feather in the hat, so the motivation is absolutely present with the researchers, says Stenseth, and continues:
– I’ll probably travel before a shot is made. But one must be aware of what one is doing and be more alert about whether one can infect yourself.
– Easier to consider in a few weeks.
Acting Deputy Director of Health Directorate Espen Nakstad says opening borders is something that is widely debated among professional communities and politicians in Europe today.
– Everyone wants to return to the situation in which one can travel. But the situation in different European countries is very different. There are still many countries that have a lot of infection, so I think it will be easier to assess when it takes a few weeks.
So you see if more countries are really capable of beating the virus, says Nakstad.
The Deputy Director notes that traveling itself creates an increased risk of infection.
– Going to an airport, going on an airport train, going to a restaurant: these types of activities provide many more points of contact than coming and going to work at home. Before opening borders, a thorough assessment of the risk of infection should be made, says Nakstad.
He previously warned that the infection can flare up quickly.
– It doesn’t take much to get another wave of infection. We well remember how we have infected many Norwegians through travelers from countries in Europe. Now we want to do things safely, while opening as fast as possible,
says nakstad
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