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Bergen and 12 surrounding municipalities pressed the red button and closed Sunday night, after they were hit by a wild infection of both the British and South African viruses at the same time.
Health Minister Bent Høie (H) takes the situation in the West seriously and really hopes that the people of Bergen will support the measures.
Høie says that it is now very important that people support the measures and advice they have received. For people to limit social contact and avoid home visits.
– The work that the people of Bergen and its surroundings are doing now is not only for them and their area, but also for the whole country, Høie tells TV 2.
Fear of mass dispersal
The Health Minister is aware that the measures that were implemented on Sunday are strict and that it is hard for many, but he still hopes that people will take it seriously.
– How worried are you now?
– We want to delay the ability of the most infectious variants to spread in Norway, because we see that countries that have not been successful in this must have very strict measures for a very short period of time, says Høie.
The municipal leadership in Bergen now fears that a massive spread could occur as a result of the outbreaks of both the British and South African viruses.
To date, 16 cases of the British virus and seven cases of the South African virus have been found.
– Are the measures that have been implemented too severe in relation to the number of cases of infection?
– No, it is of great value to the entire country that strict measures are implemented in a short period of time, rather than we end up with even more powerful measures that are spread over a longer period, says the Minister of Health.
Understand that it’s hard
Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) is also concerned about what is happening now in her hometown.
She says the worst that can happen in the coming weeks is for the mutations to spread widely, before all vulnerable groups have been vaccinated.
Erna Solberg fears that the mutations will spread widely in the future. Photo: NTB
– Therefore, we keep a high pressure on vaccination and at the same time we fight with quite powerful measures when there are outbreaks of the type that we have now in Bergen, with mutated virus, Solberg tells TV 2.
Solberg says the measures will be put in place so that Norway continues to have low mortality rates and as little closure as possible.
– It is a common job that we must do. It’s hard when it’s on, but it contributes to better results than taking it more gently and waiting, she says.
