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We are now living with new and strict national measures to prevent the spread of covid-19 in Norway. Director Camilla Stoltenberg of the National Institute of Public Health tells Dagbladet that measures may fail.
– What are the chances that we will have a stable or increasing spread of the infection despite national measures?
– Not unlikely. At the same time, we believe that the measures we are implementing and the timing of their implementation will allow us to continue to keep the spread of the infection low in Norway. But we can’t be sure, and we must constantly be on the lookout for new ways to adapt measures to make them work, Stoltenberg tells Dagbladet.
Expect an increase
Health Minister Bent Høie tells Dagbladet that we should expect more infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the future.
– Infection rates are expected to increase in the coming weeks, as these measures will not affect infection rates for up to a week or two. Unfortunately, the same applies to hospitalizations and perhaps deaths, Health Minister Høie tells Dagbladet and continues:
– We must be prepared for the fact that in the future we find ourselves in a situation with greater contagion, greater number of admissions and some more deaths, before hopefully we will be able to reverse the evolution with these measures.
Extreme measures
If the new measures do not lead to a decrease in the spread of the infection in Norway, the government should consider even stricter measures, Prime Minister Solberg informs Dagbladet. Stoltenberg says they have yet to comment on the matter.
– It has not been decided. In our risk assessments and the government’s strategy, what measures are conceivable are listed, and we can also look at other countries, where we see that in the most extreme cases there is a curfew, says Stoltenberg and continues:
– Both the government and we do a lot to prevent it. I am absolutely sure that all the residents and municipalities of Norway are very keen to avoid it. Precisely for this reason, measures are being implemented that, compared to what we see around us, are relatively moderate.
It can last the rest of the year
Initially, the new measures will last until the beginning of December. The government hopes to reduce the level of contagion so that as many people as possible can celebrate Christmas with the least possible risk. However, Høie acknowledges that the measures can last the rest of the year if the level of infection does not decrease.
– There is a risk of that. But our goal of introducing measures now, and not waiting, is precisely to avoid it.
– What level of contagion should we have to ease the measures again?
– We must reduce the level of contagion, but we do not have a defined number. This is something to consider over time, as what is perceived as daily infection numbers are actually infections that occurred a week or two ago. We must reduce the level of infection and have fewer local outbreaks. We must also be sure that we have a general preparedness that is capable of handling the situation before we can ease the measures, says Høie.
