Very concerned about the infection of imports from Poland and Lithuania. He wants to stop air traffic.

– In extreme consequence, we should introduce a ban on entry from countries with a lot of infection and close the borders, believes the leader of the Oslo city council. He is deeply concerned about the importation of infections into Oslo.

In the past two weeks, 106 people tested positive in Norway after becoming infected in Poland.

As Aftenposten recently mentioned, this represents more than half of all imported infection cases in Norway in recent weeks.

Councilor Raymond Johansen of Oslo is very concerned about this type of imported infection and calls for a series of new measures, in the worst case a new period with closed borders.

Monday presents new local initiatives in Oslo. The government announced at a press conference on Friday that it will also present new national measures next week.

Johansen does not specify what kind of measures the city is considering, but says that these will be specific measures to limit contact between people, mobility and ensure a distance of one meter is maintained.

He believes that we have had control in Norway and Oslo in recent weeks, despite the increase in infection rates.

– But in recent days something has started to happen, both in Norway and especially in Europe. The risk of losing control increases, he says. He fears the consequences for the elderly and other vulnerable groups.

Fears of Norway losing control

– Oslo is particularly vulnerable to import infections. We may like it or not, but Norway is highly dependent on labor immigration from Poland and Lithuania, he says. It stands out that there is a strong growth of the infection in both countries.

Johansen points out that Poland has seen a sharp increase in the number of recently infected people. Yesterday of infection number 12,107. The death toll was 168, the highest ever recorded during the pandemic.

– There is an enormously pronounced increase in infection in Poland. I think we must now build strong barriers to entry into Norway, he says.

Wants restrictions on air traffic

The city council leader believes that this can happen if the airlines themselves take responsibility and cancel their flights.

– If they don’t do it themselves, the national authorities should do it, he believes.

He believes that Wizz Air bears a particularly large responsibility, as this airline now transports the majority of working immigrants to Norway. Ask the company to cancel flights.

Just tomorrow, Wizz Air has scheduled departures from Gdansk to Stavanger, Bergen, Oslo, Ålesund, Trondheim, Kristiansand, Bodø, Molde, Haugesund, Sandefjord and Tromsø. Also, departures from Warsaw, Katowice, Wroclaw, Szczecin, Lublin and Poznan to several of the cities, he says.

He emphasizes that he does not know if all of these will be implemented.

– But if you look at what has arrived by plane in Norway, there have been flights from Poland and the Baltic countries every day for the last week, he says. Norwegian and Widerøe also have regular flights between Eastern Europe and Norway.

Entry bans can be a measure

– In the extreme consequence, we should introduce a ban on entry from countries with a lot of infection and close the borders, he believes.

He believes that flights cannot be maintained solely for commercial reasons. You think now you have to ask yourself if it is medically justifiable with this air traffic.

– I know that what I say can have important consequences for business and for the daily lives of many. But the consequences will be even greater if we don’t do something, he says.

– If we continue to disappoint many, we must ask ourselves questions about the wisdom of this.

– Are many people very dependent on this labor immigration?

– I understand, he says. But it suggests that Norway without new and strict measures may end up again in a situation where we must close the partnership. He believes that it is better to drastically toughen up for a period now and gain control than to wait for a situation where all of Europe must shut down again.

More testing and quarantine enforcement

He believes there is also the possibility of further testing and quarantine, if regulations are tightened there. In this regard, he asks a series of questions:

• Should we introduce mandatory tests on arrival, especially in countries with high infection rates? Today, the tests are voluntary.
• Are the entry quarantine rules followed? Is the leisure quarantine alone enough for migrant workers who do not test positive upon arrival? So they can go straight to work.
• Is a test on entry enough for those who come here to work?

He himself believes that the answer to the last question is definitely no. Some have two, but not all of them. He claims that the Oslo Health Service believes that the first test only reveals a maximum of half of those who are already infected upon entry. A second test after five days, according to the same agency, could detect another 44 percent of those infected upon entry.

He believes there is a big difference between enforcing regulations in the large shipyards in western Norway and in smaller companies on construction sites in Oslo. He is especially concerned about what he calls the “more or less disorganized part” of work life.

He points out that there are many here who live together in larger apartments and barracks and spend long days together with a lot of physical contact.