The infection is soaring in several countries these days. Our neighboring country Sweden is struggling hard and has seen a massive increase in infections in recent weeks.
In China, they recently eased a number of measures, which in turn led to the infection skyrocketing.
Due to the increase in infections, several countries are now announcing the reintroduction of some measures.
In Sweden, by the way, some regions ask for it find the mask.
– Poor compliance
Deputy Director of Health Espen Rostrup Nakstad believes, however, that a nationwide ban on masks in Norway could work versus its purpose.
– A blanket mandate for masks to prevent severe cases of the disease has the greatest effect in an unvaccinated population with a high infection pressure, especially if compliance is good, he tells TV 2.
In the situation Norway is in now, Rostrup Nakstad believes that a possible order for all would have low compliance.
– There’s a danger that more people will ignore the recommendation to stay home when sick because they can wear a mask, he says.
– Can it just work against its purpose?
– We don’t really know. But it’s possible that advice about wearing a mask that isn’t followed will make people relax a little more. So that’s something we factor into the ratings, says Rostrup Nakstad.
MEASURES: The mask was one of the measures that lasted the longest during the pandemic. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
– The foundations collapsed
Therefore, the Directorate of Health would like to emphasize that the most important advice right now is to stay at home if you have a new respiratory disease, whether it is a cold, flu or covid-19.
– The mask was one of the measures that lasted the longest during the pandemic. Now suddenly it’s not relevant anymore, what’s the reason?
– After the population was vaccinated and the new omikron variants were shown to cause milder disease, much of the professional basis for general masking disappeared, says the deputy director of health.
Here’s how it went when the government lifted the mask measure:
– It must be legal
Rostrup Nakstad reminds us that it is still important to wear a mask if you are contagious and need to move between people, for example if you go to the doctor or pharmacy.
Immunologist and professor of medicine at the University of Oslo, Anne Spurkland thinks it might be a good idea to find the mask, especially now just before Christmas.
– If you haven’t bought all your Christmas presents yet, and you have to enter the narrowest shops, you must be allowed to remove your mask again. I don’t think you should try to wear a mask to reduce your risk of infection, Spurkland tells TV 2.
– Distant
FHI department director Are Stuwitz Berg says we are far from a situation where they would recommend the government to introduce some measures in Norway.
– The measurements we had in the previous two Christmases are a long way off.
– Because?
– Now we are in a completely different situation and we have a population that can tolerate the infection to a much greater extent. We are well vaccinated and have a kinder variant than the previous ones, says Stuwitz Berg.
