Johansen’s intense years: – Now he’s having a hard time

– I hang a little in the ropes, really, but it works, says City Councilor Raymond Johansen in Oslo to Dagbladet. For one year, he and the city council have handled the spread of covid-19 in Oslo, but it has never been as demanding as now.

Recently, he was subjected to a targeted political attack by Molde’s mayor Torgeir Dahl. Twice in the course of nine days, he introduced strict infection control measures that affect thousands of children and young people in Oslo. And 30 minutes before he opened the press conference on Tuesday, he was informed that his longtime friend, LO leader Hans-Christian Gabrielsen, is dead.

– How do you manage to stand in all this?

– It’s automatic, that. When the bell rings, I get up and go for a walk with the dog, before I eat breakfast. But it’s hard… I heard Hans-Christian’s voice on the radio today, and the whole situation is somehow completely unreal.

– You have to work very hard to isolate emotions, and I have done quite a lot in the last year. It has been some very demanding weeks now.

– Isolate emotions so that it does not affect your job?

– Yes, for example on Tuesday. Man har jo…

Johansen stops, thinks about it and tries again.

– You really want to cry in that type of demanding situation. But then there is so much to cry for, and then comes the terrible tragedy with Hans-Christian on top of everything. I must first and foremost be a leader of the city in the situation we are in. So, yes, I isolate and postpone feeling many things, and I have lived long enough to know that it has its price, but it works .

Mars 2020

Johansen was sitting in a hotel room in Stockholm when it was decided on 4 March 2020 that Holmenkollen Ski Festival would go without spectators. He remembers that there was a discussion between the state and the municipality about who in the world should take responsibility for this dramatic decision. In retrospect, it is completely strange to think about, thinks Johansen, who says that the city council finally made the decision on the recommendation of the infection control chief in the district.

Those were some eventful days. On February 26, they discovered the first case of infection, two days later a crisis team was set up in Oslo and then came the Holmenkollen decision. On March 9, Oslo Municipality opened the corona telephone, and on March 10, they discovered the first case of infection in Norway that could not be traced back abroad.

– That was it, since then it has been like that, says Johansen and says that a few days later they closed schools and kindergartens.

– Yes, because you did that a few hours before the government on March 12?

– Yes, we did, and it was actually a bit random.

– In what way?

– We were in a situation where we noticed that many had started taking their kids out of kindergartens and schools. At the time, we did not know how much or how little infectious the virus was for children and young people, so we decided to shut down, and announced that we would do so, says Johansen and continues:

– Then there was still a somewhat hesitant attitude on the part of the health authorities, who a few days before probably thought that this sounded a bit exaggerated. It is both understandable and okay, but it gives an impression of what situation we were in. We were sure that we had to press the red button, says Johansen and adds that there have been several decisions in retrospect that have been even more difficult .

Political duels

Since then, he has challenged the government and health authorities to a series of duels. He has won big in two areas: Measures against import infection and geographical skewed distribution of vaccines.

Admittedly, the health authorities believe that mandatory border testing was not necessary until the turn of the year, as a result of the mutated virus variants. They also believe that the geographical skewed distribution of vaccines has not been correct before they recommended it.

– The first time we said that we had to introduce measures against import infection and at the borders, was in March last year. March last year. First time. Because I have been incredibly worried about just that, says Johansen.

– The health authorities did not recommend it, but I thought it was something that rained, because it was not logical. Later this came with the NHO having pushed hard for quarantine exemptions for foreign workers, and then it turned out that the Ministry of Health and Care Services’ mantra, which had always been “health first”, was not “health first” anyway, as I I see.

– How important do you feel you have been for the opposition this year?

– Now I will tell you one thing: I define myself very much as a position politician as I govern the largest city in Norway. In this role, I have never defined myself as an opposition politician. I am dependent on cooperating with the government, and I have not had such coordinated proposals with my party comrades.

– But you have stated when you have meant that the government has made a mistake.

– Yes I have. But I have done so because of the position I have. I understand that I am in a different party than those who govern the country, but I govern this city together with two other parties.

“We do not”

It was at the end of September that Minister of Health Bent Høie threatened to override position politician Johansen if the city council did not introduce stricter infection control measures in Oslo. At a press conference on September 28, Johansen said that it surprised him. He then listed some measures that the Norwegian Directorate of Health had recommended they introduce, and said the famous words: “We do not”.

– How did you dare to do that?

– In Oslo municipality, we have around 2,000 employees who work directly with handling corona. In fact, I think we are better equipped to take the various measures for this diverse city, than someone sitting in an office a little further away. We have close contact with the health authorities about all sorts of things, but what I did that day, I did simply to avoid state override. It has really been the common thread all along.

– I thought that state override would have been unfortunate in terms of dealing with the corona pandemic, and I think it even stronger today. An important reason for Norway’s success has been the enormous efforts of the municipalities, mayors who have appeared here and there, who know all the schools and workplaces and who have introduced extraordinary measures. The responsibility that the municipalities have taken has proven to be very successful.

– So you can really say that I did not dare to stop being so clear on it. And then it became a bit dramaturgical with “we do not”, but you should have seen what that speech looked like first, says Johansen and laughs.

– But why do you have such a direct style?

– I am myself. I’m giving a damn. Take it or leave it. I do my homework, am thorough and hardworking, and am in the shoes of the people of this city. Simply.

The most difficult decisions

Johansen says that the most difficult decisions are the ones he has made lately.

– I think the decision that was made on Tuesday was the most difficult, perhaps. But it could be that it was emotionally strong because I was affected by other things as well. That decision before it was again difficult, says Johansen and thinks about it.

– Now people are very tired. One day there are signals that we can be fully vaccinated before the summer, and an atmosphere is created that things are about to go over, while the other day we introduce the toughest measures that have ever been. We are in a period where almost 40,000 people in Oslo are unemployed, where people do the best they can, but the infection rates are still increasing, where I no longer dare to use the term «vulnerable groups», because everyone is vulnerable in some way, so it makes no sense.

– During the past year, have you thought that you have had to have a day off?

– No, I’m very bad at having time off. I have had time off in the sense that I have been to the cabin and such, but I work a lot with the corona and constantly try to see through the next turn. It has been the most intense year of my life, at least in terms of work.

– In the number of hours or in the degree of difficulty of the tasks?

– Both. I would say that.

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