Follow up of mouthwash measures

Dr. Gunnar Hasle of the Travel Clinic in Oslo has been ordering a bite since March.

Hasle has been an avid contributor to the coronation debate. So eager that he has compiled all the media visits in chronological order into a document that he has sent to the journalist from Dagbladet.

A selection:

  • On January 28, Hasle on TV 2 recommended waiting to book trips and watch the development of the coronavirus.
  • On February 7, in Dagbladet, he addressed the quarantine of people who arrived in Norway from infected areas.
  • On March 14, he posted a video on YouTube showing how to make your own mouthpiece.

While the government since March 14 has discouraged overseas travel that is not strictly necessary, and the same week introduced quarantine after overseas travel, authorities have not yet recommended the use of bandages.

Gunnar Hasle still thinks he did well too.

– I think it will be provocative for the Institute of Public Health if I say so. But I’m pretty sure, says the doctor laughing.

GIVES ADVICE: - A couple who was traveling with the Kiel ferry and would celebrate the double 70th birthday asked me for advice. I said: don't go. Three days later, the Kiel ferry was moored, says Dr. Gunnar Hasle. He has been involved in the coronation debate since January. Photo: Aase Magnhild Sørbø
ADVICE – A couple who was traveling on the Kiel ferry and would celebrate their 70th double birthday asked me for advice. I said: don’t go. Three days later, the Kiel ferry was moored, says Dr. Gunnar Hasle. He has been involved in the coronation debate since January. Photo: Aase Magnhild Sørbø
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– It’s not the big panic

On January 21, Dagbladet spoke to Ørjan Olsvik, professor of medical microbiology at the University of Tromsø.

At this time, almost 300 people in China were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus. Six people had died.

Olsvik urged not to overreact.

TEACHER: Ørjan Olsvik worked for several years at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). USA And he's been closely monitoring outbreaks of viruses like SARS and Ebola. Photo: Private
PROFESSOR: Ørjan Olsvik worked for several years at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And it has been closely monitoring outbreaks of viruses like SARS and Ebola. Photo: Private
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– With six deaths and three hundred infected verified, we currently have a mortality of one to two percent. It is noisy, but there is nothing against SARS and MERS. So don’t panic, the professor told Dagbladet.

Soon, four months later, Olsvik still believes that there is no need to panic.

– It is very clear that this virus kills relatively few. SARS killed 10 percent of those who fell ill, MERS killed 35 percent. We measured danger there, not by volume, says Olsvik.

He notes that in 2019, 1,400 people died of the flu in Norway.

– As I keep saying: as long as I die less than last year’s flu epidemic, this is not terribly bad. It is bad, but not terribly bad.

Olsvik commends the Norwegian authorities for daring to take drastic and costly measures, especially with a view to protecting the country’s elderly and sick.

– It is very humanistic to take care of those who built our oil wealth. Sweden did not, and it has a mortality five times higher per million.