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On Thursday, Councilor Raymond Johansen declared that the infection situation in the municipality of Oslo is at a tipping point. Health Minister Bent Høie tells Dagbladet that the risk in Oslo is now too high.
On Wednesday, 80 new cases of infection were registered in Oslo, while the following day 69 new cases were registered. This is significantly higher than the average infection rate last week, which was about 40 new cases per day.
– The infection level in Oslo is too high and the infection must decrease. There is now too high a risk that the infection will spread to nursing homes and hospitals, with consequences for health service personnel, and that the infection will spread to the rest of the country, Health Minister Bent Høie tells Dagbladet and continues:
– It is therefore important that people now follow the clear rules and advice given by both the national health authorities and the Oslo city council.
Johansen warns
On Thursday, Johansen announced that Oslo will maintain all infection control measures as Norway continues the gradual reopening of the partnership. He also claimed that the sudden spike in infection on Wednesday may be because people decided to get tested in Oslo after returning home after the fall break.
– We have to take control. We need to reduce infection rates to avoid implementing very, very drastic measures that we see in other European cities where there is talk of confinement. We want to avoid that. The most important thing is to keep kindergartens and schools open to avoid the huge challenges the closure will create, Johansen told Dagbladet.
New measures can emerge suddenly.
– We follow the situation very, very closely. One shouldn’t be surprised if we call a press conference again in no time.
The Oslo conflict
About two weeks ago, a conflict arose between the municipality of Oslo and the health authorities. The Norwegian Health Directorate and the Minister of Health wanted Oslo to introduce stronger measures, while the City Council wanted to see the effect of measures that had already been introduced.
Ultimately, Oslo introduced new measures that were not as comprehensive and robust as those proposed by the Norwegian Health Directorate. Both parties have stated that they are satisfied with the final result.
Health advisor Robert Steen told Dagbladet on Thursday that he believes some of the measures have worked. At the same time, he acknowledged that it is not possible to know what strong measures should be introduced to reduce the spread of the infection.
– An afterthought is probably the most exact science we have. I think there are very few who can tell me what measures should have been put in place in Oslo to completely reduce the infection, Steen said and continued:
– The only thing I see that could have been possible is to close Oslo again, as we saw in March and April. But I think the people of Oslo probably wouldn’t have accepted it.
Fines
Health Director Bjørn Guldvog informs Dagbladet that he has a strong understanding that the municipality of Oslo listens to the population. He also understands that evaluations should be made about the fatigue of the measures that has been seen in some places.
– It is important that the measures are correct in relation to the seriousness of the situation. At the same time, we must ensure that we do not waste too much time because measures are too late. These are tough tradeoffs, where we have a good dialogue with the municipality about this, and I know that they are now sitting down and doing demanding evaluations on an ongoing basis.
Police Chief Beate Gangås in Oslo informed Dagbladet that the Oslo Police District has so far logged 174 crimes that may be related to the coronavirus. 84 of the cases concerned violations of quarantine or isolation, and the fines ranged from 5,000 to 22,000 crowns.
– It was very important to me that the police chief was here today. The seriousness stands out. It is criminal to violate infection control measures that are formulated as bans and court orders. The police chief was clear that they have already imposed fines and that they will continue to do so, city council leader Johansen told Dagbladet on Thursday.
