The difficult year: – Høie’s biggest fear

Norway’s longest-serving health minister had two main concerns at the end of February / March. Photos of crowded hospitals in Italy scared him. In Europe, well-functioning healthcare systems were on their knees and the question was no longer whether the virus would reach Norway, but when. Norway also had a major lack of equipment to protect those who were going to be in this.

– I was worried about having to encourage health professionals to go to work and at the same time not being able to protect them. That was the big concern in those days, Høie says.

I feared the worst

The Ministry of Health office is decorated for Christmas and quite quiet this rainy Tuesday in December. In early March, the situation was quite different and Høie feared what was to come. Getting teams that could help the wave of Coronary Norwegians was not easy.

– The market came to a complete halt and consumption soared dramatically. It was no longer possible to obtain infection control equipment in the usual way and national borders began to close.

Trucks with infection control equipment remained at the Swedish border. The EU had stopped exports and mistakenly forgot to include EEA countries, he says.

The solution was to rent cargo planes with infection control teams from China, but he feared the worst.

– I downloaded an application on my phone and followed the flight routes to the end. We didn’t feel safe until the planes landed in Norway. The planes had to stop over on the way and there was concern about this, because the equipment could be confiscated or in danger of being stolen. Those were harrowing days and weeks, Høie says.

But the team arrived, and just days later the corona pandemic hit Norway in full force.

The difficult decision

On the morning of March 10, as Høie was briefing the Storting on the virus, a message arrives from the National Institute of Public Health that will change everything: NIPH could no longer track the infection and the virus is now spreading among the population of Norway .

Høie had to make the most difficult decision of his career: Norway had to close.

– It is clear that March 12 is a very special day. You can’t get away from it. We did something that hadn’t been done before in peacetime and we really didn’t know if it was going to work. There was no one else who had done this before, and we could see that it had had results.

Høie was also aware that the decision would have significant negative consequences.

– But it still felt … I don’t really know how to say it. However, it felt very good. The alternative seemed much worse anyway, he says.

– Very painful

The Minister of Health believes that some of the negative consequences that have occurred after the closure and restrictions will persist for many years.

– People have lost their jobs, many children have been victims of violence and abuse because some of the free zones have left and many have experienced loneliness. There will be negative consequences that will affect people for decades, he believes.

Although everyday life has changed a lot for all of us, there is one group in particular that Høie feels extra about.

– I think it is very painful that the pandemic has hit young people so much. It’s a bit of a paradox. It is young people who best tolerate the virus and, at the same time, it is they who have taken the most measures against the spread of the infection, he says.

Being able to be with many others, partying, traveling, having a break are important things that young people have had to sacrifice, says Høie.

– Also to come as a student to a new city and meet people who are interested in the same things as you. Maybe you dream of falling in love and starting a new chapter in life. When you can’t be with others, you don’t have that opportunity. So young people have sacrificed an enormous amount during this time and I am incredibly grateful for that.

– Do you think it’s worth it?

– Yes. Otherwise, the death toll would have been what we see in other countries. It is no longer just a theoretical possibility.

– Awesome

For Høie, the pandemic has offered difficult and hectic days at work, but he has also noticed that the pandemic has calmed us down.

“I think a lot of people can recognize themselves in that contrast. That he’s very hectic at work, but calmer than usual at home,” says Høie.

At the start of the pandemic, he worked twenty-four hours a day, except when he slept.

– Either I sat down to work or I followed what was happening in online newspapers and international magazines. I had to force myself to take a break, because it got so overwhelming.

He is still at work at seven in the morning and is one of the last to leave at 10. This weekend he is trying to go home to Stavanger and her husband Dag Terje Klarp Solvang.

– It is time out to get home, and it has been important. Although I also have to work a bit.

Must do something completely different

At the beginning of the pandemic, when work pressure was at its highest, he and Dag Terje had to watch some episodes of the NRK series “Side by side” on the edge of the bed.

– Just to laugh and think about something else. Be able to relax mentally.

You appreciate doing something that is completely different and not as serious as the role you play. Like cooking or going for a walk to get some fresh air.

– It’s good to think of something else. The other day I was baking Christmas cakes.

– When we got to work, they hung gingerbread on every door, advises Saliba Andreas Korkunc.

– With own design. As you can see, they have bandages, Høie laughs.

– Taken much forgiven

Christmas is also favorable to infections: in the Bjerkheim cabin in Rogaland only Høie and her husband.

– We celebrate every two years with my family and his family. This year we were supposed to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws, but they are both in the risk group and we had to stay six feet apart. It’s very impractical and really enjoyable, so we agreed with them that we’d rather do it at another time.

Despite the different year 2020 coming to a close, with a Christmas holiday that for many can be lonely and difficult, Høie believes the pandemic also has positive aspects.

– We have become even more aware of how much we mean to each other and we have experienced very strongly what it means for us to be together, he says.

– My generation and the youngest have also taken many things for granted. Now we may have learned to appreciate what we have even more and have learned that other things can be enjoyable too.

That people now wrinkle their noses at handshakes and movies and shows recorded before the time of the crown, he too believes will quickly go away when we can finally live more normally.

– I think it will be a very short time before we hug and shake hands again. I miss him so much and I think we need him.