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– If together we manage to follow the basic advice of being at home when we are sick and maintaining a good distance from others – in addition to limiting the number of people with whom we have social contact – we can achieve a reduction in the rates of contagion that allows us Celebrate a fairly normal Christmas with family and friends, Espen Nakstad tells ABC News.
On Monday, the government presented new measures against the coronavirus. The objective of the measures is to guarantee a Christmas celebration as normal as possible. One of the measures is that in private homes you should not have more than five guests in addition to the members of the household.
If all the guests are from the same household, there may be several. This means that two families can meet even if they have many children.
Also, it is recommended not to have too many close contacts for a week.
– Probably needed unfortunately
The hardening occurs after the infection has risen steadily in Norway recently. Between Monday and Tuesday, a total of 433 cases of contagion were registered. On Wednesday, another 324 new cases of infection were reported.
Nakstad emphasizes that the infection does not increase as rapidly in Norway as in many other European countries.
– The situation is not imminently dramatic yet, but if the infection continues to increase at the same rate as last week, the situation may worsen during the month of November. We risk that both the number of hospital admissions, the number of people in quarantine, and the many negative social effects of rising infection levels will become more relevant, says Deputy Health Director Nakstad.
– Is the measure of not being able to invite more than five people from different households too intrusive?
– It is probably now necessary, unfortunately, to reduce the level of infection. But fortunately, we have not yet found ourselves in a situation in Norway where we have to close schools, kindergartens or businesses, or introduce curfews and the like, as other countries in Europe have to do.
Working to simplify tips
Nakstad says she understands very well that advice can be confusing and difficult to follow.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg presented new measures against the coronavirus on Monday. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB
– We continue working to simplify the tips and rules, he says.
The new measures took effect at midnight on Wednesday and will last until early December.
– We are facing the most serious situation of reversing the infection since March. If we take action now, there is a much better chance that we can have a normal Christmas celebration with the extended family, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said when she introduced the new measures on Monday.
