NIPH will screen everyone in select workplaces – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

Oslo is at the top of the country in terms of recorded infection. FHI is also concerned that there is some hidden infection in the capital. The proportion of positive tests is highest in the country. In week 46, 5 percent of those tested tested positive in Oslo. It comes from the latest FHI weekly report.

Infection varies greatly between different districts. Districts with a high proportion of immigrants appear to have the highest infection. The districts of Bjerke, Grorud, Stovner, Alna and Søndre Nordstrand are the highest in Oslo statistics for the last 14 days.

As NRK wrote last Sunday, several districts are heavily infected, while the scope of testing is low.

NIPH: “quite intrusive”

In a letter to the city of Oslo on November 13, experts from the National Institute of Public Health make a number of suggestions. The goal is to increase the testing rate in what FHI calls vulnerable districts.

“The need for practically feasible interventions now seems quite urgent for Oslo,” writes FHI.

Department director Thor Indseth of the National Institute of Public Health says they have tried to think outside the box to get the test title in Oslo.

NIPH asks Oslo to consider testing everyone in some select groups, even those without symptoms.

• Systematic voluntary testing of occupational groups with high incidence
• Systematic testing of high schools, upper secondary schools, universities / colleges.
• Systematic voluntary testing in large workplaces in Oslo that do not have a home office.

Here FHI mentions examples such as Ringnes, IKEA, ISS, Orkla, Tine, ISS, Arcus, Posten, Tollpost, Oslo Sporveier, Oslo Taxi, the largest shopping malls, and chain stores and restaurants.

NIPH proposes selected companies where employees have a high probability of infection and where the risk of infection in the workplace is high. “For example, work indoors where there are many people working in the same room over time, often together, and where the workers are from highly infected areas.”

FHI expects all employees to be tested regularly, for example once a week.

The NIPH also calls on Oslo to consider systematically testing pupils in upper secondary schools and upper secondary schools.

NIPH: Barrier to testing should be lowered

FHI believes that the threshold for testing should be lowered in Oslo. Today, the individual citizen must take the initiative to conduct tests. For many, asking for a test is difficult. especially due to poor IT and language skills, believes FHI. Therefore, they offer suggestions on how it should be easier for people to test themselves.

• “Drop in” test stations located in the center of the districts, ev. “Test buses” that can be positioned as needed, preferably with the use of rapid tests when such tests are ready for use.
• Expand the use of ambulatory sampling teams for those who cannot get to the test station on their own, either because they do not have a car / bike or are too sick.
• Interpreters in three languages ​​(Somali, Arabic, Urdu) must be present at the test stations.

FHI experts also believe that more people will want to prove themselves if they are encouraged by resource people in the local community, congregations, and sports teams.

– There are probably many infected people in Oslo that we do not infect

Chief Physician Siri Feruglio at FHI says they experience that the Oslo municipality works very hard and well to track and limit the infection.

– We have a close dialogue with them, where we exchange even more opportunities to limit the infection. There are probably many infected people in Oslo who are not yet contagious. And so we don’t isolate everyone who is infected and quarantine close contacts to prevent more people from getting infected. So opportunities to get tested even more was a big topic at our meeting at the end of last week, he tells NRK.

– The aim is to make the tests more accessible

Frode Hagen, director of infection control at the Norwegian Ministry of Health, says they have established several test centers under municipal auspices, which will provide better accessibility for pedestrians and drivers.

– We are continually working on how we can provide better information on testing and how to get more people to test themselves. We are looking at various solutions in collaboration with private gamers and mobile devices, because our goal is to make testing more accessible, says Hagen.

– Outpatient tests already exist in the form of offers for people with special needs and without the opportunity to reach the test sites in any other way. Efforts are also being made to facilitate interpreters at all test stations, he says.