Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol (Labor Party) says that we must prepare for the first omicron cases in Norway. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health recommends initiating preparations for a more serious scenario.
“Only in a few weeks will we be able to assess what is the most probable development. It is therefore our recommendation that it is necessary already now to start the preparations in the infection control and health service for a more serious scenario “, it is written in a risk assessment of the omicron variant.
– What do you mean by that?
– We must prepare measures for municipalities or the country that may be relevant to introduce if it turns out that the variant spreads more and causes more serious disease. The hospitals must review their contingency plans for any increased load, says chief physician Preben Aavitsland in FHI to Dagbladet.
There is still a lot of uncertainty associated with the properties of the omicron variant. In the worst case, it can be significantly more contagious, avoid much of the vaccine immunity and cause more serious illness. “This is a very serious scenario,” says FHI.
– For the time being, we want to stop all outbreaks with the omicron variant. We do this to delay the spread until we know more about the variant and get several elderly people vaccinated with the third dose. The tools are insulation, thorough infection detection and quick quarantine, says Aavitsland.
MEASURES: Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre says he will present a new corona strategy on Thursday 30 November. Reporter: Ingunn Dørholt. Video: Dagbladet TV / Marte Nyløkken Helseth view more
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Manners for preparation
Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol tells Dagbladet that we must prepare.
– We must prepare for the first cases in Norway. We have a close and ongoing dialogue with FHI about the development. They are monitoring the situation closely, and we are looking at various measures we can take quickly to delay the introduction of the virus into the country while we acquire more knowledge and vaccinate more people. It is very important now to have a high pace of vaccination of refreshment dose, Kjerkol says to Dagbladet and continues:
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party) will brief the Storting on the corona situation in Norway. He, Kjerkol, health director Bjørn Guldvog and FHI director Camilla Stoltenberg will then inform the country about the corona situation in Norway at a press conference.
Guldvog tells Dagbladet that the Norwegian Directorate of Health has given the government new recommendations on entry measures, the TISK system and national and regional orders.
– The omikron variant has changed our assessment of the situation in Norway. Now there is a higher risk and greater seriousness, but we have plans to deal with it and hope that we will be able to avoid a large degree of closure in the future, Guldvog tells Dagbladet.
OMIKRON:Health director Bjørn Guldvog answers Dagbladet’s questions about the omikron variant. Video: Anton Lier / Dagbladet TV. Reporter: Frode Andresen / Dagbladet view more
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Omikron meetings
The Norwegian Directorate of Health has its first meeting on the omicron variant with state administrators and municipalities on Tuesday.
– We have planned meetings in the future where we will talk to the state administrators and the municipalities. We will quickly initiate the dialogue that is necessary, also to give advice on how to handle the first omicron cases that we discover in Norway.
– How should the municipalities do just that?
– We want to make sure that we capture the first omicron cases, and that we retain control as much as possible by mapping infection routes, and thus prevent the infection from spreading.
– How relevant is it to put down the first omicron outbreaks?
– If you think about striking down as we did in March last year, then we are not on that track yet. But we want to delay that we get omikron into Norway. Thus, we must prepare the measures in the best possible way and make sure that we do what has the best possible effect.
The director of health still believes that Norway should be able to avoid major shutdowns.
– I think it will be more difficult to have an equally normal everyday life as we envisioned some time ago, but I still think it is possible to avoid that we get a big shutdown with major consequences for tourism, business and culture. I envisage that we may have some common measures in the public sphere, which means that we have a reduced risk of further infection in the population.
