As in the rest of the country, the infection in Lørenskog has been slowly but surely declining recently.
On Wednesday, the political authorities in the municipality, which borders Oslo, will consider their own reopening plan, and decide whether to go to step one of the plan.
But the day before, Lørenskog mayor Ragnhild Bergheim (Labor Party) warns of a specific figure that could be of great importance for future measures in the municipality
WARNING: Mayor Ragnhild Bergheim (Labor Party) is concerned about the proportion of positive corona samples in Lørenskog that have an unknown source of infection. Photo: Lørenskog municipality
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“Ticking bomb”
“This could be a ticking bomb!” He writes the rapporteur on Facebook about the proportion of cases of infection that have an unknown route of infection.
The number of infected has decreased, but the proportion of those infected with an unknown route of infection, rose sharply last week – week 17, writes Romerikes Blad, which first mentioned the case.
At that time, the proportion of covid-positive with an unknown route of infection was 31.5 per cent, up sharply from week 16 when the proportion was down to 12.8 per cent. The proportion has varied greatly in recent weeks.
Can overturn Oslo reliefs
From week 9 to week 17, the average was 19.4 percent.
– A lot is going in the right direction in Lørenskog now, and the number of cases of infection is declining. What worries us most now is the proportion of cases of infection that have an unknown source of infection. This means that there is a lot of infection out there that we have no control over, says mayor Bergheim to Dagbladet.
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– In an unstable situation
The mayor says that the municipality will now place mobile test stations outside, for example, shopping centers and schools, to gain control of the hidden infection.
– One of the reasons why we proceed so cautiously now, is the high proportion of positive cases of infection with an unknown source of infection, she says, and adds:
– We still consider ourselves to be in an unstable situation, and that things quickly go wrong if we open up too early.
Tomorrow, Oslo Municipality will also hold a press conference on the corona situation in the capital. Already in the previous announced city council leader Raymond Johansen (Labor), to Dagbladet that there may be more relief.
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“Challenging”
In that case, it may mean that there will be a further difference in the measures that apply in Oslo, and in Lørenskog, just a quarter of an hour away.
– Since there is a lot of interaction between Lørenskog and Oslo, should one strive to have almost equal measures?
No one became infected after this
– There are two aspects in particular about this that I want to highlight, and which are challenging. The first is that in some areas, for example in terms of shopping centers, it is the case that if Lørenskog opens, but Oslo is closed, we will immediately notice more traffic across municipal boundaries. This is a well-known challenge throughout the country when one municipality closes, while a neighboring municipality is open, Lørenskog mayor Bergheim answers.
She adds:
– The second is that people are now quite well informed about the differences. People who live in Lørenskog, but work in Oslo, or vice versa, know the rules that apply in the various municipalities. It is a difficult situation to stand in, because the same person is allowed to do one thing there, but not here. Then the pressure becomes very great, and the questions are many: Why are they allowed, but not us? This is demanding.
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Harder to open
Therefore, the Lørenskog mayor believes that it may be even more difficult to open up, than to close down.
– No matter what measures we take or what reliefs we do, some will be happy and others dissatisfied as long as we do not open up everything at once. And the picture is far from black and white. It is not the case that there is one obvious answer in all situations. That we can not open too much at the same time, we know that, but what to open when and how much, it is actually very difficult, maybe even more difficult than shutting down because you have to take several steps and each step has new consequences, says Bergheim.
Corona infection: – Used four packets of paracetamol
A concrete example of the challenges that municipalities in Norway face before a gradual reopening is as follows:
– If we were to manage one more reopening step before 17 May, a typical dilemma would be whether we should allow more people to carry out leisure activities outside, so that, for example, corps can play for the benefit of many in the municipality, or whether we should prioritize open a little for indoor sports, says the Lørenskog mayor.
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