He wants mandatory tests at the border – VG

– We must have requirements for border testing for everyone coming from red countries, with the alternative that everyone traveling from these countries submit a negative test before traveling to Norway, says APS health policy spokesperson Ingvild Kjerkol.

The government has announced that stricter measures will be taken this week, and Health Minister Bent Høie (H) has said that international travel is one of the areas the government is considering.

Read also: Trondheim: – We must be stricter at the border

– The quarantine obligation is not enough

In FHI’s previous weekly report, it remains to be seen that an increasing number are infected abroad, primarily Poland. Information on the import infection is incomplete and the numbers may be higher, writes FHI.

– When the pandemic arrived in March, it arrived by plane from the ski resorts. When it erupted again towards the end of summer, it also flew in from all over Europe. The sharp increase we have seen in infection in recent times has been driven by infection from other European countries, there is no doubt about that. And partly through labor immigration, says Oslo City Councilor Raymond Johansen.

– I do not want to politicize the pandemic, but in this particular case I am certainly very concerned about the introduction of mandatory testing. For a long time, what has actually been done at airports and border crossings has been quite limited.

– You say you do not want to politicize the pandemic, but the government has announced new measures this week. Why is this coming now?

– We have a great responsibility in Oslo. We have import infections, and I’ve been talking about this a lot for a long time. Here we do not operate in a vacuum. I’ve been talking about these challenges for weeks, says Raymond Johansen.

Last week, the government tightened quarantine rules: foreign workers from red countries will no longer be exempt from the quarantine obligation.

– The quarantine obligation is important, but not sufficient. The tests are voluntary on arrival at Norwegian airports and additional trips to the country have been made without any type of control or guidelines. This means that the testing and quarantine scheme for migrant workers has been very limited and largely left to the individual company.

– Do you think that mandatory tests should be introduced earlier?

– Yes I say it seriously. Because the cure that many are going through now is very strict. We have to see where we can seal the leaks, and it is not easy.

These countries and territories are in red today:

– The state must do it

Ingvild Kjerkol emphasizes that the Labor Party wants the mandatory tests not to be left to the airport municipalities or border municipalities.

– The state should do it, he says.

They also want test stations to be maintained at the borders, which are closed because few are tested on the roads.

– We have credible reports of concern from the municipality, for example in Eidskog, that there will be a weakening of their readiness. Along with the quarantine obligation, we should have them standing and the test should be mandatory.

Height: – Comes with measurements

– Tomorrow we will present strong measures that precisely try to prevent the infection of people who travel to Norway. But what measures should I almost be allowed to go back to? Høie says.

For Johansens says that mandatory tests could have come earlier, he responds that he agrees with Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre, who has previously said that there should be a very high threshold for introducing mandatory health tests.

– One of the challenges with the mandatory tests is that it will require a presence at all the border crossings that Norway has, which are quite a few. It’s relatively easy at airports, but along the roads it means a lot and the fact that part of the challenge is having enough staff has to be weighed, says Høie.

He says that the Norwegian Health Directorate recommended not to continue with roadside test stations because there were so few that tested positive, but it also required great resources.

– This is in contrast to the airport test stations, which can be sized according to the arrival of the aircraft. The staffing at the test stations is the same that municipalities use to assess and track their own inhabitants, so regardless of who pays, it will be necessary to weigh the fact that part of the challenge is having enough staff.

Siv Jensen: Welcome back

FRP leader Siv Jensen points out that what Kjerkol and Johansen are asking for is almost the same as an FRP proposal being considered at the Storting, to implement a system with mandatory testing.

-When they come up with this now, I think they have realized that it is a very successful proposal, he tells VG.

She hopes they will, regardless of whether the government will introduce the measure or not.

– I am aware that the government so far has been very reluctant in this regard. I think where the government is failing is that they do it with entry regulations for an almost private matter. But there is very little about the entire crown situation that is a private matter: it affects the whole of society.