Wednesday was corona commission report presented.
Here are, among other things, more details about what happened in the days before the national closure on March 12 last year.
March 7: SMS to Høie
Late in the afternoon of March 7, Prime Minister Erna Solberg sent an SMS to Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie.
In the SMS, Solberg Høie asked if the infection measures that had been introduced at this time were strict enough.
At this time, 147 cases of coronary heart disease had been registered in Norway, and no one had yet become so ill that there was talk of hospitalization.
“The restrictions and recommendations will be stricter, but I think there must be a professional assessment when they are stepped up. But will take an extra check with FHI / HDIR again on whether they agree on the level still “, the Prime Minister replied on 7 March.
March 8: Disagree
Already in a meeting on Sunday 8 March, FHI and the Norwegian Directorate of Health had a meeting about the measures.
There, they disagreed on how strict measures it was appropriate to introduce at this time, and the purpose of the meeting was, according to the commission’s report, to “get closer to each other in communication”.
The minutes from the meeting state that health director Bjørn Guldvog considered setting a ceiling of 1,000 participants at events. NIPH director Camilla Stoltenberg warned against taking action too soon: “We must keep in mind that we will most likely be in this situation for a long time to come,” she said then.
On 10 March, NIPH and the Ministry of Finance had a meeting about the situation.
The message from Stoltenberg and her colleagues was that there was great uncertainty, but that the infection would spread in society.
They mentioned a number of possible measures, but that there was no indication that powerful measures would be implemented.
Minister of Finance Hans Henrik Scheel describes the impression from FHI’s presentation as follows: “No one talked about a ‘knock down’ strategy, but a strategy to limit and flatten the infection. I perceived FHI so that you could finish the pandemic in late autumn / winter, either because it had passed through the population or because you had received a vaccine ».
March 11: Wrote the list
On the evening of 11 March, Bjørn Guldvog, director of the Norwegian Directorate of Health, spoke with several of his colleagues in the Norwegian Directorate of Health’s management.
They agree that a group of employees should quickly put together a proposal for a concretization of a package of measures they can discuss at a management meeting early the next day.
The “stunt list” was prepared in one hour until midnight.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg has informed the commission that in the evening of 11 March she took a phone call to the Minister of Health and Care Services and that in the conversation she called for stricter infection control measures.
Høie then informed her about the package of measures that the Norwegian Directorate of Health was to prepare. According to Solberg, they also talk about her going to a debate at Politisk kvarter the next morning, and they agreed not to give any further signals there about the plans for the future.
The same evening, two important e-mails are sent.
One is at the Prime Minister’s office and is from the embassy in Rome. Here is the answer to what experiences the Italians have with intervention measures. Chief of Staff Lars Øy notes that it creates reactions among Italians that there are constantly new changes and tightenings. The second e-mail arrives at FHI at 22.09 and is from the European Agency for Communicable Diseases (ECDC).
The e-mail contains a draft of ECDC’s risk assessment, which will be published on 12 March. Here, the ECDC states that there are now clear indications that the virus is transmitted from people who have not yet developed symptoms. ECDC now recommends strict measures. Stoltenberg forwards the e-mail at 06.57 the next morning to the Norwegian Directorate of Health and the Ministry of Health and Care Services.
12. mars
On Thursday 12 March at 06.45, Camilla Stoltenberg will receive a text message from Bjørn Guldvog. He invites her to attend the Norwegian Directorate of Health’s management meeting an hour later where they will discuss the list of measures.
“We will prepare a discussion about what we can do today and what we will have to do in some time. If you had the opportunity, it would have been nice to have a little coordination before BUB. Otherwise, we take it there. “
Stoltenberg said she was coming, but eventually reported that a taxi was delayed and that she did not make it. In an interview with the commission, she said that at this time she did not understand that the Norwegian Directorate of Health planned to implement a package of measures on the same day, and that she also did not read it from the message from Guldvog.
While Guldvog told the management of the Norwegian Directorate of Health about his plans, Erna Solberg and Labor Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre met for a debate on Politisk kvarter on NRK.
While Solberg is at Politisk kvarter, her chief of staff sends an e-mail to Bent Høie with a clear message:
“Time to press the big button”.
The Chief of Staff presents a long list of measures he believes should be put in place: closure of cinemas, pubs, discos, canteens, universities, “primary schools and kindergartens unless advised by FHI”.
The answer from Høie came eight minutes later; “Yes, these measures are on the list.”
During the day on March 12, there are several meetings and a lot of communication.
At 1 pm, the Norwegian Directorate of Health sends the completed list of measures to the Ministry of Health and Care Services.
At 2 pm, Erna Solberg goes on the podium in front of the press corps. The whole of Norway is following.
“Dear everyone. We are in a difficult time […] Today, the government comes up with the strongest and most intrusive measures we have had in Norway in peacetime. The measures will have a major impact on our personal freedom. These are measures that directly affect our everyday lives and how our social life works. But now this is absolutely necessary ».
At 6 pm the same evening, the strictest measures in Norway came into force in peacetime.
The same evening, the first corona-related deaths were reported in this country.
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