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– We are reinforcing measures to ensure better compliance with quarantine rules after Christmas and therefore we and national measures will continue until the second part of January, said Health Minister Bent Høie at the press conference of the government on Tuesday.
He says that although the development of the infection in Norway has stabilized, a negative development of the infection is seen in the neighboring countries of Norway:
– We must be prepared for the same to happen here. That we are entering the new year with increasing infection rates, says Høie.
Urges to follow national advice to prevent infection from escalating again.
– In the coming weeks, everyone should stay home as much as possible and limit social contact, says Høie.
Not likely with vaccination before Christmas
In Oslo, which has extra stringent measures and was hit hard this fall, 38 fewer cases of infection were recorded in the last 24 hours than the weekly average. Shows figures for the municipality of Oslo. Nationally, the increase was 331 new infected.
A vaccine may be on the way soon. On Tuesday it was announced that the meeting to advise on the vaccine has been moved forward to Dec. 21. This means that the first vaccinations can begin at Christmas, NRK is informed.
The Minister of Health will be asked at the press conference:
– It is likely that we now consider that it is not very likely that it will happen before Christmas, but it can happen faster than it was supposed a while ago, when we considered that the turn of the year was more likely. But this is yet to be confirmed and it’s something we work on all the time and keep up-to-date, says Høie.
Five vaccines are now in phase three of testing, although some have been urgently approved in the US and UK, among others.
500,000 Pfizer vaccines to Norway
Sweden’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström has previously told NRK that Norway may receive between two and two and a half million doses during the first quarter of next year.
On Tuesday, Bergström told VG that 500,000 of the doses will come from vaccine maker Pfizer. It is the closest vaccine to approval in the EU.
From what NRK understands, Norway will continue to receive 2.5 million doses of vaccine in the new year. We say that 2 million doses of vaccines will come from other manufacturers.
At the press conference, Høie also discusses the quarantine rules. He says that both FHI and the Norwegian Health Directorate agree that a negative test on day seven in quarantine is as good an infection issue as ten days of quarantine. Despite this:
– But the Norwegian Health Directorate still believes that we should not change the quarantine scheme now. They refer to the contagion situation, consideration of testability, which means that we must wait at least until Christmas. I share this assessment, says Høie.
Send infection teams to municipalities.
At the press conference, Deputy Health Director Geir Stene-Larsen from the Norwegian Health Directorate said 11 million syringes and 14 million syringe tips were purchased, which will be distributed to municipalities in Norway according to population.
On Tuesday, the Norwegian Directorate of Health began sending vaccine kits to municipalities.
FHI’s Line Vold says you won’t be surprised if you see a spike in infection after Christmas. But he says the development of the infection has been positive in Norway in recent weeks.
– There has been a decline in infection rates nationwide for a while now, but week 50 figures appear to be roughly the same as week 49, says FHI’s Line Vold.
Earlier Tuesday, it was announced that the NIPH and the Norwegian Directorate of Health recommend that national measures continue until after the New Year. They believe that the infection situation in Norway is not yet stable and that the authorities’ measures should not be changed more than necessary.
It can create uncertainty and reduce confidence in the authorities, says the recommendation of the Norwegian Health Directorate.
The health authorities recommended an extension of measures
In the recommendation, NIPH has some input to change the measures. Among other things, the recommendation to stay at home as long as possible:
“This is intrusive advice that is no longer provided. The advice should be considered changed to: In the coming weeks, everyone should limit contact with other people besides the people with whom they live,” FHI writes in the recommendation to the government.
Earlier this month, the government presented its driving rules for Christmas. Then it became clear, among other things, that you can have up to ten guests twice at Christmas, if you have space to keep distance between guests.
Additionally, the government changed the quarantine rules for entry on Sunday and made it possible for those who can document that they have a suitable place to stay to avoid quarantined hotels.
A total of 41,331 infected people have been registered in Norway, according to the NRK summary. 132 people have been admitted to Norwegian hospitals with covid-19.
