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In a recent risk report, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health considers that there is a high probability that the most contagious variant of the coronavirus will spread in Norway.
– We consider it likely that the England variant is more contagious and that sooner or later it will spread across Norway, says department head Line Vold in a statement on the FHI website.
– The consequences of this depend on how well we manage to control the spread.
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– High risk
NIPH believes the risk is similar for the mutation found in South Africa. On the other hand, FHI considers it unlikely that the tests used in Norway have a lower sensitivity to the English and South African variants of the coronavirus.
– We consider, given that their infectivity is actually significantly higher, that there is a high probability that the English and South African variant, if imported for the first time into Norway, sooner or later will spread in Norway. This can have moderate or great consequences. Therefore, the risk is high.
Furthermore, FHI writes that the English variant of the coronavirus is also found in other countries, in patients with no known connection to the UK, but at a lazy level.
– In Denmark, the risk assessment has not changed as a result of this, and it is believed that current measures are probably against this variant as well. Here we want to point out that today’s Danish measures are more comprehensive than the Norwegian ones, and therefore we do not know whether the current Norwegian measures are sufficient to keep the most contagious virus under control.
– Infectious virus
On Sunday, FHI stated that the variant that has now spread dramatically in some areas of the UK has been detected in two people in Norway, in the municipalities of Oslo and Kinn, respectively.
Both have recently been to the UK.
– Over time, we have seen viruses being imported into Norway, even with an extensive quarantine. The probability is even higher with a more contagious virus. Significantly stricter entry measures and fewer exceptions are likely to be required if variants are to be kept out. The consequences can be great if the varieties are imported and disseminated in Norway.
There is currently no indication that the new variant of the virus causes more serious illness. However, the variant is considered to be 70 percent more contagious.
