The government orders white January – VG

It’s a bit strange to think about it now, that before Christmas we went and hoped that the decrease in contagion that we saw then, would lead to a relief in the crown measures for Christmas.

We also got those relays.

And here comes the hangover. The infection spreads after people who know each other have met over Christmas, Erna Solberg reported at her press conference Sunday afternoon.

And who doesn’t feel beaten? We are many who have been with several at Christmas.

Maybe we shouldn’t have done that. On the last day of the year, despite the few tests carried out, 717 infected people were registered. It is a new record. The number reflects what we did on Christmas Eve, a week before.

The new idea is now a “communication package” that will convince us to stay away for two weeks. Then we’ll shake off the holiday celebration and viruses. Erna Solberg even threatens fines.

It’s a two-week white January that Solberg initially presents. The bar is closed throughout Norway. Home visits will be postponed for two weeks. High school and high school go to the red level, which will mean a lot of homeschooling for students. Adults should have a home office if they can.

It seems that FHI has had more impact than usual. The Norwegian Directorate of Health wanted to close both upper secondary and upper secondary, while FHI’s advice was to keep it open at the red or yellow level.

FHI argues, somewhat surprisingly, that “covid-19 increased in the age group when schools were closed.” They believe the students were together even though the school was closed. If it’s March you’re talking about, that number base should be reasonably thin.

However, the government has listened to them. And it is clear that it is worse to close schools than shopping centers, which in fact FHI recommended closing, without passing.

Again, we see that the government chooses and rejects. For Erna Solberg, on the other hand, she has listened to the Norwegian Health Directorate regarding mandatory testing at the border, something that FHI is most skeptical about. They fear that municipalities will use all their efforts in border tests and that this will affect the tests of health personnel, vaccines and the detection of infections.

For many residents of Trøndelag, Northerners and Rogalanders, places where the infection has been low in the past but is now spreading rapidly, it must be a relief that Solberg takes action and gives municipalities no choice.

In Trøndelag and the epicenter of Trondheim, the municipality has kept the gym and bar open. This is despite the fact that it is here and in Rogaland that the infection has increased the most in the last 14 days.

Now local politicians can blame the government when the business community protests.

In other parts of Norway that have almost no infection, it probably seems less necessary to have such strict arrangements in schools and shut down the service.

And it is a bit strange from FHI, which wrote to the government a few days ago that “the advice to stay at home as long as possible and avoid social contact should be considered eliminated. Compliance is obviously quite weak. ‘

Now the tone is different. And FHI relies on communication-related arguments that serious messages that a short-term joint uprising works.

And of course there is a lot of symbolism in this. It was also more difficult to take the message very seriously in Oslo this fall, while at the same time it was possible to go out to the bar to get drunk.

But it just looks a lot darker in early 2021, before the vaccines are set. In Denmark, the capacity of the health system is under pressure with more than 900 hospitalized patients, even though they have much stricter measures than we do.

In Sweden, there is a crisis, especially in Scania, which is among the regions of Europe with the most infections. But the worst is now in the south of England, where a mutant is spreading at record speed.

There is increasing data suggesting that the mutant is more contagious. And there is a danger of more deaths because many more can become infected.

The British variant has also started to take off in Denmark, while only a few cases have been recorded in Norway.

In the fight against the clock, the British have decided to put only one dose of vaccine per person in the first instance, to reach as many people as possible and avoid hospital collapse.

This is so serious that they do it despite the fact that both the vaccine manufacturer Pfizer and the US Coronation General Anthony Fauci are critical of the election.

But the mutations just seem to be scarier than I first thought. Erna Solberg said the day before yesterday that Norway will probably have to shut down completely if the variant spreads here.

The Norwegian Health Directorate writes that with the spread of a mutant that is so contagious, the intensive capacity of Norway will be exceeded in 4-5 weeks.

The possibility that mutations make children more contagious is worrisome.

If this is the case, it will soon mean a closed Norway in the winter months until we vaccinate all those who may become seriously ill from the coronavirus.

That speaks to that limit test. Well, the alternative is that we are heading towards a new march. Tiny.