On Tuesday, the Prime Minister proposes new and intensified measures against the spread of infection and against the omicron variant. But there will not be a new shutdown.
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Just after 10.00, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party) will present to the Storting what the status is and the way forward for the government’s handling of the pandemic.
He has already announced that it is coming new and intensified measures.
Both the infection pressure and the pressure on the health service has increased recently. Several hospitals are struggling to get it going.
In addition, the new and presumably highly contagious omicron variant sneaks up still closer Norwegian borders.
To VG, Støre eases a bit on the veil over which measures the government will now propose – and which ones not propose.
He says that the strategy laid down in mid-September that the time for action was over can no longer be the basis for corona handling.
– The pandemic is not over. It is in a new phase. The infection will be among us for a long time to come.
– Are you saying that we must live with the infection?
– Yes, the coronavirus will be with us for a long time to come. For the past year and a half, we have been used to following the infection figures, they are still on the front page of VG. But now it is not the infection numbers that are most important to follow.
This is the development for hospitalized covid-19 patients in Norway:
Do not shut down
The government has defined two ditch edges that must be avoided in the future. The first is overcrowded hospitals and a burst of health care.
– We can not live with that, says Støre.
The other is shutdown.
– We know all too well how big those costs are. Many lost their jobs and got it tougher financially, children and young people paid a high price, and so did our elderly.
But there will be new national measures anyway – at 12.00 they will be presented by the government.
– We are not talking now about closure and such measures as we had last winter, says Støre.
The government now defines one measure as more important than all others, namely vaccination.
– The most important thing now is that everyone over 65 takes a refreshing dose. And everyone else who is offered it must take the vaccine. It is especially the vaccine that allows us to avoid new strict measures, says the Prime Minister.
Nor is it a one-meter rule
– Are there any special measures related to getting people to take the vaccine that will come, or is it still just a strong request?
– I’ll come back to that. But the municipalities must in future be able to vaccinate people at the same high pace as when we vaccinated fully earlier this year. We need to vaccinate faster and make the offer more accessible. And then people have to line up.
– So it is not a question of nationally reintroducing the one-meter rule?
– No. That is not the case now.
When asked if the Christmas table will be able to go as normal, Støre says that he will return to it in the Storting’s rostrum.
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