Corona infection sinks, but it can be quiet before the storm – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
This article is over a month old and may contain outdated advice from the Authority regarding coronary heart disease.
Stay up to date in NRK’s overview, or through FHI’s websites.
– It is gratifying to see that the infection numbers go down, and then we have to take it with a pinch of salt as well, says health director Bjørn Guldvog.
In the last 24 hours, 1989 corona infections have been registered in Norway. That is 1716 fewer than the same day last week. The highest number was recorded on December 14 with 6003 infected, after which the numbers have dropped.
But Guldvog thinks it could be dark numbers.
He points out that there are probably fewer who have tested themselves on Christmas Eve and the first day of Christmas, even on ordinary days before Christmas.
The number admitted to the hospital on the second day of Christmas is 307, it shows high from the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
That is 24 more than yesterday, but far lower than December 17 when the amount was 383, the highest number during the pandemic.
Can be quiet before the storm
The fall in registered infected and hospitalized occurs after the government before Christmas introduced a number of measures to curb the infection of the highly contagious omicron variant.
Measures such as bandages, stop drinking and recommendations to limit how many people you meet.
– At the same time, we see that infection rates have increased a lot in Europe. Could it just be that the situation we are experiencing now is quiet before the storm?
– It could be. The reason for this is that we believe with certainty that the measures work well on the delta virus, but we do not know the new omicron variant so well yet, says Guldvog.
– So it may be that we now get an increase in omicron infection despite the measures, but there we just have to wait and see.
Continued high infection in Oslo
650 new corona infections have been registered in Oslo in the last 24 hours, according to the municipality’s own Homepage.
That is 60 more than the same day last week, but lower than the average for the last two weeks, which is 915 infected daily.
Despite the fact that omikron also infects vaccinated people, all indications are that vaccinated people will become less ill.
The health authority believes that this is a pandemic and that it will not be said to vaccinate during Christmas.
The government has decided that everyone over the age of 18 must be offered a third refresher dose before February.
Conflicting omicron signals
Both statistics from South Africa and from Scotland indicate that far fewer of the omicron-infected become seriously ill.
– The good thing is that there seem to be fewer hospital admissions, says Guldvog.
But the health director is also concerned about information from Denmark, which has shown far more infection in Norway.
– The age group between 20 and 40 years now makes up a third of inpatients in Denmark, says Guldvog.
The largest percentage increase in Denmark is in the age group 10–19 years, where 43 people have been hospitalized with coronary heart disease in recent weeks.
As in Norway, most inpatients in Denmark are unvaccinated.
Infection is increasing sharply in Europe
Omikron also leads to rapid infection growth in several European countries.
Britain, France and Italy all registered peaks on Christmas Eve, while Ireland had a peak on Christmas Eve.
British health authorities believe it is huge dark numbers in Britain, which registered 122,186 infected on Christmas Eve.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are introducing new corona measures from the second day of Christmas, which places strict restrictions on nightlife.
In particular, the three-day New Year’s celebration in Scotland, known as Hogmanay, will be affected. Then it will be banned with large crowds.
Omikron has dominated in England for a week and British media that new corona measures can be introduced there from Monday.
In the meantime, it is vaccinated throughout the Christmas holidays.
Omikron is now also dominant in Portugal, but the country which is among the world’s highest vaccination coverage currently has far lower infection rates than in January before many were vaccinated.
On the first day of Christmas, the country registered 10,016 new cases of infection.
Despite the fact that Norway has fewer new corona-infected and fewer hospitalized coronary patients even a week ago, the Norwegian Directorate of Health will not recommend any relief now.
– Not now. We think this is the right level we are at. Then we will make a new assessment in the new year, whether there is a need for adjustments, says Bjørn Guldvog.