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– We are not sure if the new UK mutation is in Norway. This is why we have asked everyone who has arrived in Norway from the UK in the last 14 days to put themselves to the test. We have also widely reported this via text messages, says assistant director Espen Rostrup Nakstad at the Norwegian Health Directorate in Dagbladet.
The mutated variant of the coronavirus is reported to be 70 percent more contagious than the original variant of SARS CoV-2.
Health authorities have reason to fear that the new crown mutation will also reach Norway.
– Not tested
Since December 12, five cases of infection have been recorded on flights from the UK to Norway, the summary by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) shows.
The cases were registered on December 12 (one case), December 13 (one case), December 18 (two cases) and December 20 (one case).
During the same period, eight cases were recorded on flights from Copenhagen to Norway, the same summary shows.
These were registered on December 12 (three cases), December 15 (one case), December 17 (two cases) and December 18 (two cases).
– The virus variant has not yet been detected in Norway. We have not received information on transmission routes for those who are registered on airplanes, but FHI is mapping this, says Nakstad.
NIPH chief physician Preben Aavitsland says their general description indicates “they are probably infected in the UK.”
Just because the mutated virus variant has not been detected in Norway does not mean that it may not have been or may not have been here, Aavitsland emphasizes.
– We do not know. We think the probability that the virus variant is now found in Norway is low as we have examined a number of outbreak viruses with an unusual amount of spread, says the FHI superior.
33 cases
Denmark has already recorded 33 cases of the mutated virus variant, and the Statens Serum Institut states that they assume the variant has started to spread in society.
Sweden, among other things, has introduced an entry ban from Denmark due to the variant, but with several exceptions. The ban is valid for one month.
The British medical journal BMJ notes that there is so far no evidence that the mutated virus is more deadly or that it has undergone such major changes that treatment methods or vaccines are affected.
FHI had also previously told Dagbladet that there is currently no indication that the mutated virus is more deadly than the original variant.
– We are continuously working on improving the testing and quarantine systems in Norway because we fear mutated viruses from more and more countries. It is important to prevent new, more contagious virus variants from taking hold in Norway, says Espen Rostrup Nakstad.
Tested in Sweden
A person in Södermanland, outside of Stockholm, Sweden, has been confirmed infected with the mutated variant of the coronavirus that was first discovered in the UK, writes Expressen.
The person traveled from the UK to Södermanland to celebrate Christmas, says Södermanland infection control doctor Signar Mäkitalo in a press release.
– The person acted according to the recommendations before developing symptoms of infection. The person in question does not need treatment and follows the instructions not to infect others, says Mäkitalo.
The person tested positive on December 21 and was told today that it was the mutated variant of the virus.
The person’s symptoms must have been fatigue and pain, Aftonbladet writes.
The mutation has also been detected in Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, Italy, and Australia. The development has led many countries to stop flights from the UK.
By Friday at the latest, Norway extended the flight’s stopover from the UK until December 29.
