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VOLUNTARY TESTING: If you are coming from abroad, it is still voluntary to take the test when you arrive in Norway. This applies even if you come from a red country. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen
According to the National Institute of Public Health, there have been people with covid-19 on board at least 73 flights in Norway from December 2 to 18: – It is strange that the planes have become a kind of free zone, says Raymond Johansen.
Up to 59 of these flights have taken off or landed at Gardermoen.
33 are domestic trips, while the remaining 40 are from abroad, the figures show. National Institute of Public Health (NIPH).
The summary also shows that during the last 14 days, five planes arrived in Norway from London. Imports of the infection from the UK to Norway have been a dreaded scenario for the past week, after a new coronavirus mutation was discovered in the country.
The mutation will spread up to 70 percent faster than the original coronavirus and is devastating the south-east of England. Among other things, this has led several countries to stop all entries from the UK.
In the same period, the infection has also been confirmed aboard two cruise ships in Norway, seven train trips and eight bus trips, FHI figures show.
The NIPH figures lead the leader of the Progress Party (FrP), Siv Jensen, to ask once again for mandatory tests when entering Norway.
– There are reasons to ask the Minister of Health, Bent Høie, why it has taken so long to consider mandatory tests when entering Norway. The problem of infection of imports has been known for a long time and this should be one of the first measures that were considered in March, Jensen tells VG.
Currently, border tests are voluntary, even if you come from a red country. However, you must have submitted a new test with a negative result before boarding the plane.
Oslo Mayor Raymond Johansen thinks this is too lax.
– We have closed Oslo for a long time. So I think it is little sacrifice to talk about mandatory tests at the border, Johansen tells VG and adds:
– If you don’t do something about it, you don’t define the problem as serious enough.
REQUEST MANDATORY TESTING: Siv Jensen believes that mandatory testing at the border should be one of the first steps taken to stop the importation of infections. Photo: Tore Kristiansen
Do you want to recover the old flight rules?
Johansen is not surprised by the numbers VG presents.
– The coronavirus is where people are, and if we go to the airport we must wait for people to get infected, says Johansen.
However, he believes this is more problematic because it is difficult for people to maintain distance on airplanes.
– Previously, there were rules for this, including that there had to be a seat between two passengers, but this rule the government has chosen not to continue now during the second wave of viruses.
– It is very strange that airplanes have become a kind of free zone, says Johansen, and he refers to other strict distance rules in the rest of society since flights are excluded.
Both Johansen and Jensen emphasize that import infection is known to have long been a problem in Norway. Jensen points out that this was the reason why FrP proposed mandatory testing as early as August.
– It is serious when infection has been detected on board more than half of the aircraft from abroad that have been reviewed. If the government had wanted to, it could have introduced tests at the border and thus probably stopped the spread of the infection, Jensen tells VG.
CONCERNED ABOUT OSLO: Oslo City Councilor Raymond Johansen believes Oslo could be hit hard by import infections if it doesn’t implement stricter measures soon. It refers in particular to a number of new flights from red countries arriving in Norway at the beginning of the new year. Photo: Terje Bringedal
It is supported by Johansen, who fears that Oslo’s efforts to reduce infection rates will be in vain if we allow new imported infections.
He believes that everyone who comes from red countries should have been screened.
– It is not good and completely incomprehensible that the government has said no to testing all those who came from red countries. It could have helped raise the threshold for flying, says Johansen.
The city council leader is concerned that more flights departing from Norway are contributing to a new wave of infections that particularly affects access cities like Oslo.
He is particularly concerned about travelers who come after the holidays and who travel a lot from one place to another.
– I’m worried about what we have in store for the new year. We know there are many flights coming from Europe, and WizzAir alone has 15,000 seats available from Poland to Norway at the beginning of the year. The price for this is paid by those who have to live with even more restrictions, says Johansen.
Johansen: Trust is not enough
When Britain first raised the alarm about the mutated virus at the end of last week, Johansen thought the government was too slow to close its borders to the country.
Although the government eventually introduced a travel ban from the UK, Johansen is still concerned about the leakage of the infection to Norway and believes that stricter measures should also be put in place regarding quarantine rules.
– We must do everything possible to avoid importing the infection. Inadequate control of trips to the quarantine site and quarantine compliance carries risk. We must ensure that it is tracked and verified that it reaches the quarantine site and that the quarantine is adhered to.
– Yes, it is illegal to break the quarantine, but a lot is based on the fact that we live in a trustworthy society, says Johansen.
– Are you saying that a system based on trust is not enough in this context?
– I’m worried this won’t work, no. Especially not with the import infection, responds the town hall leader.
Considering a greater fit
Earlier this week, Health Minister Bent Høie told VG that he believes the rules for entry into Norway are strict, but revealed that they are still considering new measures for entry into Norway.
Shortly after, the government imposed a temporary two-day entry ban from the UK, but has so far failed to come up with any mandatory testing requirements.
So far, however, Høie has asked everyone who has been to the UK recently to put themselves to the test.
– I would strongly request that everyone who has been to the UK take the test within one day of their arrival and that everyone who has been in the UK for the last 14 days and are now quarantined be tested Høie told VG at the time.
In the future, the National Institute of Public Health will publish information on the time and place of departures on board of people infected with covid-19. The information is limited to traveling between different municipalities or countries.
– As a starting point, the lists include all trips if they cannot be handled locally, writes FHI.
This is done if they do not have information about all the people who may have been exposed and therefore cannot normally monitor infections. In addition, this is done to inform as soon as possible about places where many may have been exposed.
