[ad_1]
Published:
Norway has had more cases of infection than Sweden per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days, new EU statistics show.
The country’s rise is due to local outbreaks.
– We have an alarmingly high level in Norway, says infection control director Frode Forland to Aftonbladet.
Over the past week, Norway and Denmark were reported to have had worse infection development than Sweden.
Statistics from the EU’s infection control unit, ECDC, now show that Norway has overtaken Sweden in the number of new cases. In the last 14 days, Sweden has had 24.0 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. Norway’s figure is 24.8.
– It is not surprising. The situation in Norway has been at a low level all the time, while Sweden has been at a high level and is now falling to the same level as in Norway. That’s great. But we probably think we’re at an alarmingly high level in Norway, says infection control director Frode Forland, the Norwegian equivalent of Swede Anders Tegnell.
Social outreach in Bergen
Norway’s rise is due to local outbreaks in Bergen, Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad. They account for about 70 percent of cases in the past two weeks and raise the national average, according to the Norwegian director of infection control.
In Bergen, more stringent restrictions have been introduced.
– We are concerned that local outbreaks will spread regionally and nationally. So far it has gone well but it is a bit worrying, especially what happened in Bergen. There we have a spread of the infection that has spread to society, and not just young people, says Frode Forland.
Norway has long established unique travel restrictions for the different regions of Sweden, where the country is divided into yellow and red regions.
Will you continue to do regional assessments of Sweden, even if the countries are at the same level?
– It loses its value in some way, if you have the same situation. But there are still big differences both within Norway and within Sweden. So we haven’t made a decision about it, but it has been debated, says Frode Forland.
“Sweden will continue its decline”
Camilla Stoltenberg, director of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, has also said that the situation looks promising to be able to cross borders as usual, in an interview with the Norwegian Dagbladet.
– I think Sweden will continue its decline, but there is always the danger that it will increase as long as only a small proportion of the population is immune, says Camilla Stoltenberg, director of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, to Dagbladet.
Frode Forland believes that local outbreaks, so-called cluster infections, are the main danger before fall. Which was also pointed out by state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell as a risk for the Swedish side.
– It should be simple when there is a local outbreak, trace the infection and perform the test. This is the Norwegian strategy for the future, says Frode Forland, director of infection control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
The situation is worse in Denmark
However, the number of deaths is higher in Sweden than in Norway, with 0.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. In Norway, the corresponding figure is 0.0.
And since the start of the pandemic, however, Sweden has had 86,505 infections compared to 11,866 in Norway. Sweden has had 5,846 deaths compared to 265 in Norway, according to ECDC statistics.
In Denmark, the spread is more severe than in Norway and Sweden at this time. The neighboring country to the south has 43.3 cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, compared with figures for Sweden and Norway of around 24.
– We are worried? Yes, we are. Is development going in the wrong direction? If it does. Can we put this in order? Yes, we can, Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said recently.
Published:
