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Infection rates continue to rise in Norway. In the last 24 hours, 662 new cases of contagion have been registered, 68 more than those reported on Wednesday and 40 more than on Thursday a week ago.
At the same time that we see record rates of infection, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) fears that there are also large dark numbers in the population.
– This spring, we discovered about ten percent of those who were infected. Now the number has increased, so we believe that we detect between 40 and 50 percent of those infected. This means we don’t detect most people who are infected, says department director Line Vold on FHI to TV 2.
– I would like to know more about this group.
The violence says there may be several reasons why Norwegians with coronary heart disease are not detected. For example, some can go through the disease without any symptoms.
– You may also have very mild symptoms and do not think this is an indication that you should be tested. It’s also possible that some have barriers that make the tests not as easily accessible where they are, Vold says.
NIPH wants more knowledge about infected people who go undetected.
Department Director at FHI, Line Vold. Photo: Jil Yngland / NTB
– The fact that we still have such high dark numbers means that we have quite a number of people who walk and are contagious without us noticing. We’d like to know more about this group, admits Vold.
– Clear flattening
In Oslo, the number of new infections has decreased somewhat in the last 24 hours, with 189 registered infected. That’s 34 less than the day before and two less than the daily average of the last week in Oslo.
On the same day last week, 172 cases of infection were registered.
– It is quite clear that there has been a flattening of infection rates across Norway over the last week. There are fewer municipalities that have an increasing trend of infection now than a week ago, deputy health director Espen Nakstad tells TV 2.
He also notes that the flattening has taken time, both in Oslo and in suburban municipalities such as Asker and Lillestrøm.
– We also see in Bergen that it has taken time to achieve this flattening. It is positive that it is flattening, but it is not a decline. We will probably depend on waiting a bit longer to see the effect of the latest measures, especially in the 13-19 age group, where additional measures have been implemented in Oslo, Nakstad says.
– Realization of concrete plans
As FHI still suspects large dark numbers, it has been debated whether to use massive testing in big cities like Oslo and Bergen and other heavily infected locations. Nakstad says this kind of massive testing is a measure that is now being considered.
– We have given FHI a task to see how it can be implemented. We have also made concrete plans to possibly take random samples with tests after the new rapid tests have been completed in a couple of weeks, says Nakstad.
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He emphasizes that it is important to form a picture of how much infection there really is in society.
– In March, where perhaps only ten percent of those infected were supposed to have been detected by testing, there were 4,800 people who tested positive. This means there may be 48,000 who were really sick, but we couldn’t catch, Nakstad says.
He believes that the infection rates are actually much higher than what is recorded and points out that the threshold for testing can be high if, for example, you are young and have few symptoms.
– Many resources
Nakstad says that any massive test will be tested to map the incidence of infection in parts of a city or municipality where a large amount of infection is suspected.
– The problem is that this requires a lot of resources, because these tests must be done by someone. This cannot be at the expense of regular clearing of the infection and regular testing of people with appearing symptoms, Nakstad says.
He says that work is now under way on how the massive tests can be carried out.
“Also, in the pandemic, we rely heavily on being even more specific with infection measures so that we don’t affect jobs, school children, gyms, etc.,” Nakstad says.
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Waiting for a positive spiral
The deputy director of health stresses that the health authorities do not want places to be closed for a long time.
– These are temporary measures in some municipalities to reduce infection. As soon as we reduce the infection, we depend on better understanding and targeting the settings where the infection is.
When asked if it is relevant to introduce even stricter measures, Nakstad responds that we must first assess the effect of the current measures.
– People better wear face masks in closed public places and on public transport. People are better at keeping their distance and being home when they are sick. This is very important for us now to lower the infection tendency, says Nakstad.
And when the infection begins to subside, we can, according to Nakstad, enter a positive spiral.
– If the infection begins to decrease, it will be easier to track the infection in the municipalities. Then you will catch even more infected. This becomes a self-reinforcing effect that contributes to further drops in infection tendency.
