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NIPH will now have its own measures targeting immigrants in Norway.
It has been known for a long time that immigrants have been significantly over-represented in both the number of infected and hospitalized in Norway.
In its latest risk report, FHI has taken a closer look at this:
– Throughout the epidemic, Covid-19 has affected some immigrant communities more, reports FHI.
Also read: These are the new and very strict corona measures
– We see that people born in certain countries have had several times more cases of reported infected people (per inhabitant in the group in Norway) than people born in Norway. Figures are adjusted for age, municipality and occupation. In the table before July 1, we see that infection among those born in Somalia was very high, they report.
– After an active mobilization among Somali Norwegians and clear efforts by the state and municipality, we saw a sharp decline in this group. This fall, there has been a particularly higher risk for people born in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia and Turkey.
It will have its own measures aimed at immigrants
FHI believes that this should be followed in more detail:
– Greater efforts are needed to reduce the pressure of infection among various immigrant groups. The increase in incidence may be due to a lack of understanding of the communication about infection control measures. Additionally, it may be due to poorer access or refusal to test. Language and cultural differences can, in some cases, make infection detection more challenging locally.
Also read: Erna Solberg invites immigrant communities to a dialogue meeting on the measures of the crown
They propose a series of measures:
Better, clearer and more specific communication
- A broad initiative is needed in which both the state, the municipality, volunteers and immigrant communities work to reach immigrant groups (similar to what was done in the Norwegian-Somali community this spring)
- In the future, participation in settings with the highest infection pressure will be particularly important (over time, these have been immigrants from Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia and Eritrea). Furthermore, we see from the figures for the last two weeks that infection pressure is high among those with native Poland and Somalia.
- Well-adapted information measures should be prepared, preferably with the use of sound and images, and translated into multiple languages.
- The council must adapt. For example, some will have difficulty interpreting linguistic nuances such as “should” and “should”. There will also be different evaluations of what is meant by terms like “your immediate family.”
- Voluntary organizations and groups have gone to great lengths, but they cannot replace the professional healthcare expertise that in many cases is required to provide accurate advice. Information telephones and the like cannot therefore be left to volunteers alone. Therefore, the possibility of establishing telephone services with health personnel with appropriate language skills should be considered.
- Good systems should be in place to request a qualified interpreter, a good overview of the immigrant population locally, and routines on how resource people with the appropriate language and cultural competence can participate locally, in municipalities that do not yet have one .
- All municipalities should have an overview of voluntary organizations, congregations and specialists with linguistic and cultural competence that can be mobilized in preventive work.
- All municipalities should have an overview of industries and businesses with many working immigrants and consider how they can engage and reach them in infection control work. Lower threshold for testing
- Requesting a test requires reading, computer and language skills, and in some places a birth number as well. This means that the test threshold for some is too high. It can help with walk-in low-threshold test stations in the largest cities and translated information on where to find test stations.
Custom outbreak management
- When outbreaks occur in immigrant communities, municipalities may need the support of health personnel with linguistic and cultural competence to be able to carry out a good detection of infections and follow-up of people in isolation and quarantine. A national working group covering the 5-10 most important languages can be helpful.
- We have experienced that some municipalities do not use interpreters for infection detection. We are concerned that this could lead to misunderstandings about who are close contacts and what rules apply to isolation and quarantine.
- The negative financial consequences (or misunderstandings about this) of testing and quarantine must be eliminated. It must be clearly stated that the tests in the municipality are free. Financial compensation should be considered for people who have not earned social security rights.
Also read: These occupational groups are more exposed to covid-19
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