Coronavirus, National Institute of Public Health | NIPH: 6 percent of the population in Norway has been infected with the coronavirus
Although Norway has recovered well from the pandemic compared with other countries, some groups have been particularly affected, FHI sums up the corona pandemic.
– There are many indications that the negative consequences of closed schools during the pandemic have not been evenly distributed and have particularly affected some already vulnerable groups of children and young people, writes National Institute of Public Health (FHI) in its summary of the coronary pandemic.
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So far, there does not appear to have been a general deterioration in mental health in the population, but the pandemic may have hit some groups harder.
This applies, among other things, to those who already have mental illnesses, those who have experienced losing their jobs, young people, living alone and students.
6 percent infected
The infection itself also affected skewed.
– Oslo and Viken have accounted for 61 percent of all reported cases so far and had a significant burden of action compared to the rest of the country, writes FHI.
To date, it is estimated that around 332,000 Norwegians, or 6 percent of the population, have been infected with the coronavirus. Foreign-born accounted for around 40 per cent of all hospital admissions from March 2020 to February 2021.
Positive consequences
The pandemic has also had some positive consequences that may have an effect on public health in the long run, according to FHI.
They point to a decrease in influenza disease, that fewer people sought emergency care for cardiovascular disease, and that more children were born at the beginning of the year than in the corresponding period in 2020.
According to reports, it is too early to say for sure how big the health consequences of the covid-19 pandemic will be in the long run.
Better equipped for the future
Director Camilla Stoltenberg of FHI believes that Norway is now better equipped for later pandemics and other health crises than before the coronavirus hit us.
– One of the most important lessons after the pandemic, which is important for dealing with future outbreaks, is to map the reasons why the pandemic affected the population differently, she says.
(© NTB)
This is how FHI sums up the pandemic
- The Norwegian economy had a significant production loss in 2020, even though the bottom point was short-lived.
- School closures may have led to reduced learning for children around the world.
- The pandemic has left social, technological and cultural traces we can not yet know the extent of – both positive and negative.
- Norway is currently among the countries in Europe and in the world with the lowest number of deaths and hospitalizations related to the pandemic, compared with population sizes.
- In Norway, 871 people have died of or with covid-19, 1001 have been admitted to the intensive care unit at a hospital, and 5279 have been admitted to hospital in total as of 7 October.
- NIPH estimates that about 6 percent of the population has been infected, around 332,000 people.
- The total number of covid-19-related deaths in Norway is currently slightly lower than in one average flu season.
- The figures are significantly lower than most other European countries. With the same number of deaths per million inhabitants as the United Kingdom, Norway would have had over 10,000 deaths with covid-19.
(Source: The report Public health after covid-19)
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