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Among Pakistani-born immigrants, 11 percent tested positive. Amjad Munir believes that people don’t take the virus seriously enough until they get sick themselves. New measures are now being proposed against infection among immigrants.
Amjad Munir is one of the many Norwegian Pakistanis who have been infected with corona. The proportion of infected people in Norway who were born in Pakistan is six times higher than their proportion of the population. Photo: Ketil Blom Haugstulen
Barbecuing with friends had been nice. The July night was still nice when he started to feel mean. He went home, he just had to lie on the couch.
– I am used to pain, but now I have severe pain throughout my body, in all joints, also in the three joints of the little finger.
Amjad Munir (58) also had a fever, headache, a loose stomach, lost his sense of smell and taste, his throat became dry and he was short of breath. He gorged himself on painkillers.
– The first five days of which I remember little. He was completely knocked out, says Munir.
He is one of hundreds of Pakistani-born Oslo citizens who have had covid-19.
– Pakistanis have not taken the crown seriously. Many people do not believe that it is a serious illness. But I promise you it was cruel.
The NIPH is now proposing several new and comprehensive pandemic measures against infection in immigrant communities.
Amjad Munir believes that it is taboo to say that he has been infected. Therefore, he stands up to warn people of immigrant origin against the virus that he himself was affected. Photo: Ketil Blom Haugstulen
11 percent born in Pakistan tested positive
11,283 foreign-born have been diagnosed with covid-19 in Norway since the pandemic began. This means that 35.4% of all those who have been diagnosed with an infection were born abroad.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Health Minister Bent Høie have had “dialogue meetings” with immigrant organizations. Action plans have been developed. More than NOK 20 million have been spent on information campaigns.
However, the infection has increased more among immigrants than in the rest of the population.
Try a smaller and higher proportion of positives
For the first time, figures are coming in from NIPH showing how many people are getting tested and the proportion of people infected.
The numbers are amazing. The infection is more widespread in various settings than official infection figures give the impression.
- 23 percent of all those born in Norway have tested themselves since July. 1.2 percent were positively infected.
- Among the test takers born in Pakistan, 11 percent were infected. For Somalia, the proportion was 10 percent.
- For Eritrean-born immigrants, the proportion of positive samples reached nine percent. In Iraq and Turkey, eight percent were infected.
When so many are infected, more of these groups should have been tested, believes FHI.
The infection has had consequences.
Half of the patients hospitalized in November were born abroad. Pakistani-born patients are highly overrepresented.
However, the picture is complex.
In several immigrant communities, infection is as low, or lower, as among those born in Norway. These include Thailand, Vietnam, and India.
Researchers have pointed to several reasons: many immigrants are crowded with larger families, high-risk jobs, youth, and poorer health. In addition, there are language problems, cultural differences and different health services.
– No information is missing
Amjad Munir lives with his wife and three adult daughters in Bjørndal in Søndre Nordstrand, where more than half of the inhabitants are immigrants. So far, 467 per. 100,000 infected inhabitants.
The former taxi driver has a large network of friends and acquaintances, including the leader of the Sports Club Mortensrud-Aker. He has been a member here for almost 40 years.
– This is my first home, he says and opens the door to Klemetsrudhallen.
It is now completely silent in the hallways and on the tracks.
Former taxi driver Amjar Munir is passionately involved in Mortensrud-Aker Sports Club. Now the pandemic has stopped all activity. He believes that it is better to test yourself too much once than to be sick and infect others. Photo: Ketil Blom Haugstulen
All activities stop. He hopes that the young people will fill the room with life again.
Munir believes that the high infection is not due to a lack of information. He points out that everyone is affected, there is a lot of information on social networks, newspapers, radio and television channels, in many languages. He praises both the authorities and the imams of the local mosques.
– But it’s taboo to be infected. Some people feel ashamed of being sick, sadly. Therefore, people do not evaluate themselves, even if they have symptoms.
– Why?
– I think it has to do with bad attitudes and culture, gossip and negative attitudes towards other people. Many people are afraid of what they will say if they turn out to be infected.
– The whole world is affected. When the partnership closes, you have to get it, says Amjad Munir. He believes that many do not take the pandemic seriously. Photo: Ketil Blom Haugstulen
Massive tests and more money
What to do? Most important, in the short term, is more testing among many immigrant groups, according to a NIPH report.
Do you speak Norwegian poorly, do you have reading problems or are you bad with data? So it’s harder to ask for a test, notes FHI. It affects many immigrants.
In addition, FHI proposes massive tests in shopping centers in districts and municipalities with high infection and many immigrants. It should also occur in schools and large workplaces.
A positive test can mean a big financial loss if you have a short-term job. Therefore, the NIPH proposes financial compensation for people without social security rights, as well as a temporary regime with the right to sick leave from the first working day.
I started to think about death
After a painful weekend in late July, Munir contacted the GP and tested positive.
– You got scared?
– Yes, I was scared. Fear that it would get worse, fear of losing his life.
He thought about what would happen to the family if he disappeared.
You don’t know how you got infected. He had felt safe. Hhan washed his hands, used Antibac, kept his distance, saluted with his elbow or fist to fist.
Amjad Munir was not admitted, but was isolated at home for ten days.
The wife and daughters offered him food and drink and kept their distance. Two weeks followed in quarantine, plus a self-imposed week before he ventured out for a walk. By then he was asymptomatic for a long time.
– It was tough physically and mentally. I saw my family, but I couldn’t hug them.
Three months later, he is still struggling: his breathing is heavy as he climbs the 32 steps of the mountain hall below the center of Mortensrud.
You sleep poorly and feel more depressed than before.
– I have negative thoughts, yes, in general, about life and around.
When Amjad Munir became infected with corona, the infection control team received a list of all his close contacts, at least 30. In the last four weeks, half of the corona patients in Norway have been born abroad. Photo: Ketil Blom Haugstulen
“God decides when I will die”
Torunn Arntsen Sajjad is a knowledgeable medical anthropologist from Pakistan. She says there are big differences between the different Pakistani communities in Norway.
Those who grew up in Norway often understand the risks that Pakistanis don’t necessarily have.
– People in Norway wear seat belts to a great extent, although we do not know of anyone who was injured because they did not use it. We largely do what the authorities say and we trust that they know best.
– Although most Muslims relate to medical information, they can think at the same time that “God decides when I will die.”
Suggest fines
Amjad Munir is quite upset that many people still shake hands and hug.
– It’s stupid to invite large gatherings now. I don’t think people manage to keep their distance at a wedding. We are stuffed animals, we can’t do it.
He believes that organizers of large gatherings and those who rent the premises should be fined. He himself has visited his former in-laws once since March.
Munir knows someone who died of a crown.
– We will not gossip or criticize those who were infected, but I do not think we talk enough about this.
Therefore, he stands up, to break the taboo. He is also taking part in an informational film made by the Municipality of Oslo.
– I don’t care about gossip. I do this so that others don’t get sick.
