In the last 24 hours, 4041 corona infections have been registered in Norway. That is 823 fewer than the same day last week. In the last seven days, an average of 4,531 corona infections have been registered per day. The corresponding average seven days ago was 4,733, so the trend is declining.
On Tuesday, Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol (Labor Party) will hold a press conference together with Health Director Bjørn Guldvog and Director of FHI, Camilla Stoltenberg.
– We have received good news in recent days, Kjerkol begins and refers to the latest vaccine figures which show a good increase of both the first, second and third dose, Kjerol begins the press conference.
Health care: 32,000 not fully vaccinated
Kjerkol sends a big thank you to everyone who is now showing up to have a change of pace in the vaccination.
– I encourage everyone who can to roll up their sleeves during the Christmas holidays, so that the municipalities can set their vaccine doses, says the Minister of Health.
Difficult in 204 municipalities
As Dagbladet reported on Tuesday, can All the country’s pharmacies will soon start putting corona vaccines. At the same time, the state takes the bill for double corona supplement for municipal employees and double hourly wage for teachers who take extra hours. Kjerkol sends a big thank you to everyone who is now showing up to have a change of pace in the vaccination.
Health director Guldvog says it is too early to say that the measures that have been introduced now are enough to bring the infection back down to an acceptable level.
– Access to health personnel is difficult in 204 municipalities. GPs, emergency services and municipal chief physicians also report challenges, says Guldvog.
However, extra resources mean that vaccination is quick.
NIPH with unusual recommendation
– Many thanks to everyone who contributes and who bears the burden through this pandemic, says the health director.
Most unvaccinated corona patients
Guldvog comes with an update on hospitalization numbers and situation in connection with the pandemic. Less than 50 percent of those now hospitalized with corona are fully vaccinated.
– The hospitals have implemented a number of measures to have good enough capacity. They are now preparing for an increase in admissions, says Guldvog.
The test capacity will now be increased. More than 30 million new tests have been procured, and these are under planned delivery. In some municipalities, the test capacity is scarce, so that priority groups such as health personnel and testing for symptoms are given the highest priority, in front of, for example, school students.
– We expect large deliveries of tests from mid-January, says Guldvog and concludes by encouraging people to both follow advice for infection control and take care of each other at Christmas, says Guldvog
Urgent Christmas prayer: – Cancel the plans
Lots of uncertainty
Director of FHI, Camilla Stoltenberg, says that there is still a lot of uncertainty about omikron and how this will affect society.
– The infection figures in the latest figures possibly show a decline, but we must be careful in interpreting these. It may be that the test pattern is now different and affects the numbers. The unanswered question is how the measures affect the spread of omikron, says Stoltenberg and points out that the number of omikron-infected has quadrupled in one week.
In a few days, a new risk assessment with recent calculations and estimates for the spread of infection in the coming days and weeks will be ready from NIPH.
– I hope we do not see each other at a press conference in the next few days, and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Stoltenberg concludes.
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