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REASONS TO SMILE: Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad believes that the latest figures from Norway show that it is possible to keep the pressure of infection low while society functions relatively normally. Photo: Krister Sørbø, VG
No country in the EU and EEA has as low a corona infection pressure as Norway. However, Deputy Health Director Espen Nakstad warns that we may have a new wave of infections.
This is shown in Tuesday’s figures from the European Agency for the Control of Communicable Diseases (ECDC).
On Monday, Norway eased several measures, including in nightlife and grassroots sports.
At the same time, much of Europe is experiencing a second wave of the corna virus. A number of measures have been introduced in large cities to prevent the spread of the infection.
The number of infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days is 34.3 in Norway, the lowest in the EEA and the EU.
At the same time, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and several others are setting new infection records.
The highest infection pressure is in the Czech Republic, where there have been 521.5 cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. It is followed by Belgium with 429.5 and the Netherlands with 387.0.
The second best in the class is Cyprus, where the number is 38.1.
Further down in the case, you can see the infection pressure for all countries.
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– Important motivation
– We should all take this as an important motivation to persevere in the coming months. We all have a lot to gain if we make our own efforts all together to remain in control of the pandemic, Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad tells VG.
All EU and EEA countries report their figures to the ECDC. Norway reports daily, while Sweden, for example, does not report figures from Saturday to Monday.
However, this will not affect the Norwegian figures.
– The figures are encouraging for Norway because they show that it is possible to keep infection low while much of society functions relatively normally, says Nakstad.
He emphasizes that the figures are less encouraging for many European countries because they show a sharp increase in infection despite the rather intrusive measures in most countries.
– It reminds us that the same can happen to us if we do not continue with the efforts in the coming weeks, he says.
Nakstad believes Norway can do this because people are still good at limiting infection by staying home when sick and keeping their distance from others. Furthermore, Norwegian municipalities and laboratories do an incredibly good and important job of sampling thousands of people every day who have newly developed respiratory symptoms, he notes.
– But it is not certain that we will achieve it during the fall. The increasing number of local outbreaks makes us more vulnerable, so we may also have a new wave of infections in Norway. The higher the pressure of the infection, the more likely it is that we will eventually lose control, warns Nakstad.
Check the infection pressure in all EU and EEA countries in the table below. All figures are per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks:
