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On Wednesday, FHI reported that the number of infections in the previous week was 45 percent higher than the previous week and that the R number in Norway is now estimated at 1.3.
On Thursday, Health Minister Bent Høie announced that stricter national measures will be introduced next week.
Deputy Director of Health Espen Nakstad believes that we must prepare for further measures at the national, regional and local levels.
That’s where the third wave comes from
Probably different rules
According to Høie, he has asked the Norwegian Health Directorate to analyze whether regional and local measures can be sufficient to bring the R number below 1.
He said this to NRK on Thursday.
When asked if he now thinks we can expect a full shutdown, Nakstad answers the following:
– We must expect measures that are strong enough to reverse the development of the infection in Norway and that they occur at the national, regional and local levels. This is because the infection situation is still very different in different parts of the country, Nakstad tells Dagbladet.
– If, on the contrary, we do not achieve a rapid control of the situation, the possibility of a more widespread infection and even more powerful national measures increases, he continues.
Adjust the traffic light model
Nakstad explains to Dagbladet that the Norwegian Health Directorate is now working on adjustments to the school guide, known as the traffic light model, to strengthen infection control in schools and kindergartens.
It is a collaboration with the Directorate of Education, NIPH and other actors, where the objective is to achieve the best possible control of infections in children and young people who are adapted to mutated virus variants.
– They will adapt to outbreak situations and situations with a low level of infection. Many measures can be relevant here, both permanent measures and situation-dependent reinforced measures for when there is a lot of infection in a municipality or region, says Nakstad.
It highlights that the best protection for children and young people in this corona situation is to have a low level of contagion, so that schools do not close and children end up in quarantine.
Fredrikstad: – Think carefully
– So we need good systems and measures to keep the infection low.
Rapid test planning
Nakstad stresses that it is not true that the more measures there are, the worse it will be for students.
– On the contrary, it is worse for students when we cannot keep the infection level low for the smaller age groups.
According to Nakstad, the Norwegian Health Directorate is also working on how to use rapid tests to screen students regularly in municipalities with a high infection pressure.
This will not necessarily apply to everyone.
– We hope this can lead to fewer outbreaks and an easier school day, says Nakstad.
