– Should be a motivation – VG

– This is first and foremost a recognition to the Oslo population that they have managed to implement a physical distancing and social reduction, says health councilor Robert Steen (Labor) to VG.

For the first time during the second corona wave, the infection trend in the capital is declining, VG’s overview shows.

On Monday, 93 cases of infection were registered – VG’s overview shows – and thus the trend reversed after having been rising for a long time, before flattening out last week. The trend only reverses when the change is more than 15 percent, either more or less, compared with two weeks ago.

– But the job is not over at all, emphasizes health councilor Steen.

On Sunday, 79 new cases of infection were registered in Oslo, while the number on Saturday was 112. The two previous Mondays, 197 (16 November) and 165 (23 November) new cases of infection were registered in the capital, respectively.

In the last week, 102,544 corona tests have been carried out in Norway, compared with 126,161 the week before. 2.3 percent of the tests were positive, a decrease of 0.5 compared to the week with 126,161 tests, VG’s overview shows.

However, the test figures for week 48 in Oslo will not be published until Wednesday.

– It is important not to lower your shoulders

The social shutdown that involves a number measures in Oslo must last until December 14th.

In good time before that, the city council has promised to provide indications of what will happen next.

– It is very important not to lower your shoulders. The numbers are still at a high level, roughly back to where we were when we first introduced the social shutdown. So we must continue to be good, says Steen.

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– But maybe this is a motivation?

– If nothing else, this is proof that the measures have worked. It should be a motivation for everyone to continue a little longer so we can bring the infection to a level that can make Christmas more pleasant, he says.

– Have you quantified how low the infection must be before you can ease the measures?

– It is not about the number, but where the infection occurs. We have seen that some districts with greater overcrowding have had more infections, and that there is infection evenly throughout the city in the age group 20–29 years, and eventually also those in secondary school and upper secondary school. What we can do with the measures depends very much on where the infection takes place, Steen explains.

Here you see the registered infection in Oslo from the start of the pandemic until now:

322 new cases of infection in Norway

At midnight on Friday, VG’s overview showed declining infection trend in Norway. Assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad then stated that it indicated that the national and local infection measures had an effect.

– Situation is still very vulnerable. It will not take long before the arrows can point upwards again, Nakstad warned.

On Monday, 322 new cases of infection were registered in Norway, which is 116 fewer than the average of the previous seven days. A total of 36,150 cases of infection have now been registered in Norway. As of 30 November, 128 had been admitted to Norwegian hospitals with covid-19, while 332 deaths related to the pandemic had been registered.

But despite the fact that the infection trend both in Oslo and nationally is now declining, it is still rising in 26 Norwegian municipalities.