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Last week, the results of the Norwegian Health Directorate’s population survey showed that confidence in measures has never been lower in Norway. At the time, 59 percent of the Norwegian population responded that they supported the infection control measures that had been introduced.
Health Minister Bent Høie tells Dagbladet that he noticed something had changed last week.
– Last week I probably experienced that a lot of people were tired. It may have felt like the infection had subsided, but at the same time it felt like there was no good news. Many probably felt that it was a difficult period, and I think there have been too many after the New Year, says the Minister of Health to Dagbladet and continues:
– Now I think many feel that it is a little lighter again, as there has been a little more positive news about vaccines, and men see that vaccines have an effect and protect the most vulnerable among us. Also, some relief has now been announced, especially targeting children and young people. So I think that although it is difficult for many, there are also many who see that there is actually a little bit of light in the tunnel right now, preferably a little more than what they saw a few days ago.
Lowest ever
In week 53, 70 percent of the population supported the government’s infection control measures, but over the past four weeks support has been around 60 percent. In particular, there is a clear decline in trust among people in the 16-24 age group, with only 35 percent responding that they agree with the government’s infection control measures.
Health Minister Høie believes it is natural that people now start asking questions about infection control measures in Norway.
– It is the case that when you get tired, it is a completely natural human reaction to ask questions like: “Is this necessary?” and “Can’t we do it another way?”
– It’s completely natural, and my job is to try to explain over and over why we have to do it this way.
Høie further says that he believes it is important to compare trends in Norway with what we see in other countries.
– If we do that, we will see that, although it has been difficult, we do it better than many other countries in Europe and we often have less intrusive measures. It’s nice to think about it, because it’s something we’ve accomplished together.
Great help
Although confidence in infection control measures is declining, the population survey for week 5 shows that 95% of the population responds that they follow the advice and guidelines of the health authorities. The number has varied between 98 and 90 percent during the epidemic in Norway.
– How close do you think is the threat associated with initiative fatigue in Norway?
– It’s hard to say. In the population survey, we see that the willingness to support whether the measures are still very high in Norway, and that it is slightly affected by asking questions about them now.
Great threat
Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad, on the other hand, sees the threat associated with fatigue as great, believing it is affected by constant adjustment and relief, which he describes as a yo-yo effect.
– The threat is great, and it only gets bigger the longer the pandemic lasts. People are not very tired of this yo-yo effect, Nakstad tells Dagbladet.
He says that last summer he experienced that many in Norway were doing very well, living very normally and did not think much about the pandemic.
– The reason we were able to do that was that we had very low infection rates. So it should be our motivation still, that is, to keep this under control, because then it will be easier to see the light in the tunnel.
