Last year came the news that assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad is publishing a book about the corona pandemic.
The book is entitled “Code Red”, and was actually supposed to be published in March this year, but has been postponed until the autumn.
On Thursday, Nakstad was present during Gyldendal publishing house’s autumn launch in Oslo.
Here, the health chief says that he agreed to write the book during what was a quiet period in the pandemic, but that it gradually became more hectic than he had expected.
“CODE RED”: Espen Nakstad presents the book «Code Red». Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB
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Wrote in vacations
He was thus delayed in writing the book, and had to spend Christmas holidays, winter holidays, summer holidays and Easter to write.
– I have sat a number of evenings and worked with this, because there has been so much else to do otherwise. But I’m glad I did it now, because it’s helped me put things in perspective. I have received a good overview of everything that has happened, which I have struggled with before because so much has happened, he says to Dagbladet.
During the pandemic, Nakstad has been watching the government’s corona press conferences, and he has appeared in the media to explain what is happening and how it affects us.
– What does the family think about the fact that you have taken the time to write a book in addition to the busy everyday life you have otherwise?
– There is a lot of bad conscience. That I actually spent time on this here when I otherwise had some time off. I have tried to do this in the evenings during holidays, so that I have had as much time as possible with the family during the day. Then I have spent the evenings otherwise as well, and that is the way I have managed to do it. This has meant that I have had to work very efficiently. I have not had all the time in the world, but I am happy with how it has turned out, he says.
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– A journey
He summarizes the book as follows:
– I try to take the reader on a journey through history, through the world, and through events that may have an impact on how to handle this type of crisis. I myself have participated in some of these events. So it becomes my perspective on why things happen, what we can do and what experiences we can take out of a pandemic like this.
– How private are you in the book?
– I include the reader in things I have been involved in, which are relevant for how I work and for how we as humans can handle crises. It will be a book that not only has a Norwegian focus, but has an international focus.
He reveals that the book is mostly about the time before Norway closed down on March 12 last year.
– It is actually most interesting, he says.
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Can be more books
The crisis management itself is not the main focus in the book, but he points out that that part of the pandemic is also important.
– It is important to have self-knowledge and highlight things we can learn from, which we can do better in the future. The most important thing to be able to do that is to understand why it is the way it is. My main motivation has been to explain why it has gone as it has, why the other epidemics we have had in the world did not become a pandemic, but why this one did. It is important to be aware of such things, so you may be able to prevent similar incidents in the future.
– Will there be a sequel?
– I do not know. I have written parts of textbooks before, and I like to write in book projects, but the most important thing is to comment on where we are now and what we can learn from it. Then it may well be a book later, but I do not have that perspective yet.
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