Dagbladet has asked both the Education Agency, the Directorate of Education and the Directorate for Children, Youth and Families (Bufdir) what they think about school closure as a measure against the spread of infection in Oslo, but none of them has expressed a desire to comment. However, Bufdir refers to a recent report from the Coordination Group for Services for the Vulnerable and Young.
HEAVY YEAR: City councilor in Oslo, Raymond Johansen (Labor Party), tells what has been the worst thing about the corona year in Oslo. Photo: Nina Hansen / Dagbladet TV view more
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Warns against hanging bogs
In the report from March 10, it is written that Norway is one of the few countries that has managed to keep schools open during the pandemic, and that this is gaining international recognition.
“The successful management is not only due to the fact that the infection has generally been under control in Norway, but also that we have an effective municipal TISK system and the possibility of differentiated measures through the traffic light model,” the group writes in the report and warns:
In Norway, the red level in schools has been the first choice in the event of rising infection, while other countries have only had an “on and off button” and gone straight to closure. The experience from other countries is also that if you first close, you end up in a quagmire where it is not possible to reopen until the general level of infection in society has become low. It usually takes several months. “
The group is led by Bufdir director Mari Trommald, and has representatives from both the Integration and Diversity Directorate, the Directorate of Education, the Directorate of Health, the Police Directorate, the Secretariat for the Conflict Councils, the National Institute of Public Health and the Directorate of Labor and Welfare.
SPIT SPECIMENS: Oslo Municipality starts with mass testing of students and teachers with saliva samples. On Wednesday 10 March, the tests were demonstrated at Stovner upper secondary school, with City Councilor Raymond Johansen (Labor Party) present. Reporter: Frode Andresen. Photo: Marte Nyløkken Helseth / Dagbladet TV view more
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Infection under control
The report also states that open schools are the best way to keep the infection among teenagers under control. This is supported by figures from the winter.
«Norwegian data indicate that the traffic light model has been effective. At the winter’s first infection peak in November (week 45), red action levels were introduced in areas with a lot of infection. The infection in teenagers then decreased by 65 percent towards the week before Christmas (week 51). Then it rose by 125 percent over the Christmas holidays (to week 1), and then fell again by 67 percent until February (week 6) “, the group writes in the report and concludes:
“It thus seems that open schools – while safeguarding infection control – are the best way to keep the infection among teenagers under control. Closed schools – during holidays – seem to be unfavorable, probably because there will then be more parties and socializing in private arenas where infection control rules are not complied with.
NEW STRENGTHENING: On Tuesday 9 March, City Councilor Raymond Johansen (Labor Party) briefed on the corona situation in the capital. Video: NTB view more
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FHI-anbefalinger
Researcher Pål Surén represents the National Institute of Public Health in the Coordination Group. The report lists a number of infection control recommendations from NIPH for children and young people.
«Introduced measures must be given the chance to work before new measures are added. When, for example, stricter measures are introduced in the Oslo area now in week 9, one must take the time to evaluate the effect before making new changes. It takes at least 1-2 weeks before the effects show up “, reads one of the recommendations.
In another recommendation, FHI believes that school closure should be a short-term measure, while in a third recommendation, FHI believes that the tometer rule is incompatible with open schools.
“Closing schools can be used as a short-term measure to provide an overview of an outbreak situation, but should otherwise be the last infection control measure used,” says FHI in one of the recommendations.
To meter
“The introduction of two-meter requirements for children and young people is incompatible with open schools, even at the red level. It is also not compatible with open and functioning services for children and young people. If increased distance requirements are introduced in society, it must not include schools, kindergartens or services for children and young people “, FHI believes in another recommendation.
The report also states that after the first period of closure, more than 60 per cent of young people who responded to Ungdata’s surveys thought that they had learned less during the period.
It is also stated that sign language children and young people are in an extra vulnerable situation, and exposed to social isolation when society is closed down and schools have full or partial homeschooling.
TESTING: Assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad says it is approaching the breaking point for the TISK strategy in Oslo. Host: Ivan Larsson.
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Nakstad about school closure
Assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad tells Dagbladet that the mutated virus variant is more contagious in all age groups, and that it is now seen that it is especially young people who spread the infection.
Nakstad also says that this leads to infection in families, which leads to hospitalizations, and that the schools face challenges with many ending up in quarantine. Nakstad describes it as “very unfortunate”.
– It is clear that it is important to gain control over the spread of infection, and stop it, and then you must use the measures that are necessary to have an effect, says Nakstad and mentions mass testing, Nakstad says to Dagbladet.
– The measures that are considered for the individual school are very dependent on the infection situation in the area where the school is located. That is, whether the infection pressure is high, moderate or low. So here I think one still has to look at the local infection situation when adapting measures and trying to fight the infection in the younger age groups.
