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The municipality of Oslo has seen an increasing spread of the infection in recent weeks. The number of new cases has varied from about 70 to 20 new cases registered in the course of a day. At the same time, all districts have registered more than 20 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days and are considered red.
This prompted the Norwegian Health Directorate to deliver a recommended seven-point package of measures to the municipality of Oslo on Friday evening. However, the municipality has refused to present them, resulting in a conflict-ridden weekend. On Sunday, Health Minister Bent Høie said the government would overrule the city council if new measures were not implemented soon.
– Over the weekend, the Minister of Health took an unusual step and threatened to annul Oslo if we do not implement the measures immediately. I’m surprised, City Councilman Raymond Johansen said at a news conference Monday night.
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New measures
Johansen went through the list of measures recommended by the Norwegian Health Directorate point by point and concluded several times that “we are not doing it”.
– If we want to continue to be successful and have people in the team, we must earn that trust. We do this simply by introducing the necessary measures, Johansen said.
However, the city of Oslo has decided to introduce some of the recommended measures to prevent the city council from being bypassed. Johansen emphasized that it was important to maintain the good cooperation that the municipality has had with the health authorities.
– Today I feel a great responsibility to coordinate the state and the capital. Therefore, the City Council has made a new assessment of the recommendations that the national health authorities have made to the Oslo City Council and that the Minister of Health has strongly encouraged us to present. The City Council is now introducing several of the recommended measures, but we are improving and adapting them so that they can work well in Oslo, Johansen said.
As of Tuesday at 12 noon the following applies:
- Mandatory for bandages in public transport in case of congestion and when a meter distance cannot be maintained.
- Prohibition of indoor events with more than 50 participants without fixed seats.
- All pubs should have a guest registration system to make infection detection more efficient.
The new measures are initially applied until October 13.
Johansen believes, however, that Oslo residents should be aware that the measures may take much longer and that they may pass until many have been vaccinated against the disease.
– We must bear in mind that this can last until the summer.
Therefore, there is total dispute
Do not hesitate to close
In other words, there were several of the proposals on the Norwegian Health Directorate’s list that the City of Oslo did not present in this round. For example, to reduce the maximum number that can be met privately from ten to five people.
The municipality does not adjust the opening hours in the nightclubs of the city either.
– The bar industry has shown responsibility, believes Johansen.
Johansen said 28 nightclubs have already closed, and they won’t hesitate to close more if they don’t follow infection control rules.
They also don’t stop events at the city’s universities and high schools.
Johansen says the municipality has already asked the police chief to set aside resources to enforce the order for the sanitary napkins.
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Urgent meeting
On Monday afternoon, Health Minister Bent Høie announced that he had urgently convened Oslo and 19 surrounding municipalities for a meeting in which the health authorities will present their recommendations on the measures, as well as hear the assessment of the municipalities of these recommendations.
The affected municipalities are Bærum, Asker, Lillestrøm, Nordre Follo, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Nesodden, Rælingen, Ås, Lier, Frogn, Nes, Vestby, Enebakk, Aurskog-Høland, Lunner, Gjerdrum, Hole and Gran.
– I want stricter measures to be introduced in Oslo, as well as new measures in the surrounding municipalities. It is also the Norwegian Health Directorate and the NIPH who should give specific advice on what level measures should be at, as was done with the municipality of Oslo on Friday, Høie told Dagbladet on Monday.
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Oslo chaos
City Councilman Raymond Johansen explained to Dagbladet early Monday that the municipality really wanted to wait and see if the measures that were introduced last week worked.
– I don’t think we have had sharp fronts, said Health Minister Høie and continued:
– But I think we have had a disagreement on the scope of the measures that should be implemented at this time. There I have a good dialogue with the council leader, and I am familiar with his arguments, we will also continue that dialogue at the meeting tonight.
You can override the city council
The Minister of Health acknowledged that the situation has not been good, and at the same time mentioned the threat that the government has the opportunity to cancel the municipalities with national measures.
– There is not a good situation that we have had now with various evaluations, but I hope it is a temporary situation, and that we can quickly agree that we need more comprehensive measures. We also hope that they will be implemented with local roots, to avoid the use of national measures.
