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If you are infected with the coronavirus now, or are considered to be in close contact, you must spend Christmas Eve in quarantine or isolation.
If fewer now choose to prove themselves, to avoid celebrating Christmas alone, Health Minister Bent Høie worries.
– My clear message is that this is not the way of thinking. If you do not put yourself to the test and participate in family Christmas-related parties, you risk infecting your loved ones. We have to think that we are now in a pandemic, and that means if you have symptoms then you have to put yourself to the test, says Høie, adding:
– If you have symptoms when you wake up on Christmas Eve, then you must refrain from going to the Christmas party or you must cancel the Christmas party if it is the person with symptoms who has invited, clear message from Høie.
WORRIED: Health and Sanitation Minister Bent Høie is concerned that people are not putting themselves to the test so as not to risk having to celebrate Christmas alone. Photograph: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB
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– Follow the rules
Høie says she understands that many now have a strong desire to go home to celebrate Christmas with loved ones, but it’s clear that one shouldn’t take too high a risk now.
– We are still in a situation where Norway has too many infected and most of those infected do not know it. When you have symptoms, you should follow the advice and the rules and get tested, and possibly cancel and not travel, recommends the Minister of Health.
At today’s press conference, Høie said that national measures now prove to have worked. The infection has stabilized, but has not decreased in recent times. This means that the situation is still very vulnerable and that it takes shortly before infection rates rise again.
– There is still the risk of new outbreaks and that the trend will reverse, warns Høie.
– That is why we have chosen to extend the national measures now, in the first round until the first half of January. We have to reduce the number of infections and we still see that the situation in areas with little or no infection can change rapidly.
SECTION OUT: The director of the department of the National Institute of Public Health, Line Vold, says that infection rates in Norway have stabilized, but they are not yet low enough. So you won’t be surprised if we see a rebound after the Christmas holidays. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB
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Risk of it becoming
The Minister of Health cites as an example of horror the situation that is developing in our neighboring countries Sweden and Denmark.
– I am concerned about the experiences they have had in several other countries, with the curve going down a bit, but not enough. Then there is a risk that it will roll over and climb back up quickly. Therefore, it is important to follow the advice from now until Christmas.
The director of the department, Line Vold, of the National Institute of Public Health, is also concerned about the evolution of the number of people examined.
– It is very unfortunate that people do not test themselves. If you have symptoms of an acute respiratory infection, you should get tested. It is important to break the chain of infection and not infect others. Otherwise, you can walk around and infect others without knowing it, he tells Dagbladet.
Extends national measures until January
– Should you test yourself if you don’t have symptoms, but for example you are going to travel to another municipality to celebrate Christmas?
– No, unless there is something special in the municipality to which you are going to travel. For example, you are going to work in a nursing home. You should examine the advice of the municipality to which you are going to travel, but in general the encouragement is to reduce social contact and this also applies when you arrive at the place where you are going to be at Christmas, says Vold.
False security
Deputy Health Director Espen Nakstad at the Norwegian Health Directorate is among those who have warned against testing without symptoms. He believes that it can give a false assurance that one is not infected.
Line Vold agrees.
– Even if the test is negative, it is not necessarily the case that it is negative in the next few days. It is not the case that you can later relax and socialize with many others. This is a pandemic and you can still carry the infection that breaks out later, she says.
The increase in social contact concerns both the NIPH and the Minister of Health.
– So overall, I won’t be surprised if we see an increase in infection rates after Christmas, says Vold.
