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On Sunday, the European Agency for the Control of Communicable Diseases (ECDC) claims that Norway has overtaken Sweden in infection pressure. Norway has registered 24.8 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, while Sweden has registered 24.0.
In recent weeks, Norway has seen a sharp increase in infection pressure, mainly due to extensive local outbreaks in Bergen, Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad, which are linked to student and religious settings. Just a couple of weeks ago, the infection pressure in Norway was around 13 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.
Travel
Director Camilla Stoltenberg of the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) informs Dagbladet that this may allow more travel between Sweden and Norway.
– I believe that Sweden and Norway will benefit from having a low level of infection together, so that they can also cross borders as before. It looks quite promising, but we must stop our increasing infection pressure. I believe Sweden will continue its decline, but there is always the danger of an increase as long as only a small proportion of the population is immune, Stoltenberg tells Dagbladet.
– Can this allow more travel between Norway and Sweden?
– It certainly can. But Norway will stick to the limits we have set.
Color codes
Health director Bjørn Guldvog agrees with Stoltenberg, but points out that Norway will continue to engage with the color system, where countries and regions are on the red list if they exceed an infection pressure of 20 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.
– It will probably be when the infection pressure between countries is the same. Now it is still the case that we have these color codes, which means that there are only a few regions in Sweden that you can travel to, and some that lead to quarantine when we return again, Guldvog tells Dagbladet.
Stronger hit
Sweden, on the other hand, has been significantly more affected by covid-19. As of September 12, Sweden had registered 86,505 cases of infection and 5,846 deaths. At the same time, 11,924 cases of infection and 265 deaths had been recorded in Norway.
Health Minister Bent Høie is pleased that Sweden is seeing an improvement.
– Fortunately, Sweden has moved in our direction and I am very happy about that. This shows that the Swedish government’s investment in infection testing and tracking appears to be paying off. It is precisely the strengthening of this work that we must also have in Norway, Høie tells Dagbladet.
Strategy
Prime Minister Erna Solberg believes that we have chosen the correct strategy to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
– We have chosen the correct strategy and we can still handle this. There are two major outbreaks that have now raised us to more than 20 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. If we had removed them, we would have been closer to 10, Solberg tells Dagbladet and continues:
– It is still true that we analyze new admissions and low mortality rates in Norway. We must be prepared for local outbreaks. There is a common denominator for all outbreaks, and that is that basic infection control rules are not followed.
