Therefore, omikron has taken over faster in Denmark – VG
Although we have not yet set infection rates as in Denmark, the director of the National Institute of Public Health Frode Forland says that Norway must also be prepared for a significant increase in infection in January and February.
It now appears that as much as 80 percent of all Denmark’s positive tests are omicron, informed academic director of the Statens Serum Institut, Tyra Grove Krause, at a press conference on Wednesday.
The omicron infection in the country breaks its own record almost daily, and Denmark has the highest infection rate in the world when the population size is taken into account.
On Wednesday, a record 23,228 infected people were registered in the last 24 hours in Denmark. But the extra high numbers can be explained, among other things, by the fact that many have been waiting to test themselves during Christmas in space, and that it has picked up in recent days.
In Norway, 4,407 new cases of infection have been registered per day, which is 1,046 more cases than the average of the previous seven days. But we have set a decline in infection after a peak of infection two weeks ago.
– Have we escaped the powerful omikron wave here in Norway?
– We probably have not escaped it. It is on the rise, and we are prepared for the fact that we may also have a significant increase in infection in January and February, says director of the National Institute of Public Health, Frode Forland.
– That is why we must keep the measures we have until we see that we manage to flatten the infection curve, so that we can handle this in the health service. We are well on our way to being able to do that, as it looks now, but it is the weeks ahead that will determine whether this goes well or whether we continue to face great challenges in the future.
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Fast doubling rates
Since Christmas Eve, the proportion of omicron variants in the screened, positive corona samples from Oslo and Viken has exceeded 50 percent, according to FHI’s latest weekly report, and is also increasing in scope in the rest of the country.
In Bergen, 181 new corona infections were registered on Thursday in the last 24 hours, with the omicron variant making up half of the cases.
FHI reckons that the omicron variant will be dominant in Norway within a few weeks.
Forland points out that in Denmark it has been a doubling rate which has been much faster than what we have set in Norway. The doubling rate says something about how many days it takes before the number of detected cases doubles.
– They probably got in omikron at the same time, maybe a little earlier, and got a bigger wave of infection quickly. Then they had a little more open society when this came in, we got shut down faster in Norway. It has stagnated the wedge considerably. The doubling rate in Norway has been about six days, while it has been half the time in Denmark.
The subject director believes that the positive infection rates in Norway are an indication that the measures have worked, but it is too early to say anything about the effect they have on the omicron variant.
– What we do know is that they have worked well in the Delta infection. At the same time as the delta infection has decreased, the omicron has increased. We must expect more infected by omikron.
FHI’s Preben Aavitsland warned last week that a flat infection curve could hide an increase in omicrons. Because while one variant takes over for another, it can appear on the infection curve as a flattening. The omicron infection thus only becomes visible with a significant increase.
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– At least dark numbers
The number of corona patients admitted to Denmark on Wednesday was 675 people, while in Norway it was 323.
At the same time, Forland points out that there are fewer hospitalized in intensive care units and on respirators in Denmark.
– It may be a sign that there may be more inpatients in Denmark with omicron, with milder disease courses. Most are still hospitalized in Norway with delta.
The risk of coming into contact with the health service appears to be 20 to 70 percent lower for omicron-infected even for delta-infected, the Danish National Institute of Public Health, Statens Serum Institut (SSI), stated at a press conference on Wednesday.
Vaccine coverage in Denmark is good, and they have come further than Norway, especially with the booster vaccination, says Forland.
– They have had a very good vaccination strategy, which can probably also help to prevent them from getting too many serious patients attached to the wave they now have. In addition, they have a completely different test strategy than we have had in Norway. While we have tested 8 million and think it is a lot, Denmark has tested 80 – ten times as much. They are probably the country in Europe that has the best overview of the situation and the smallest dark numbers.
New infection records are still being reported around the European country.
“I am very concerned that omicron, which is more contagious and circulating at the same time as the delta, is leading to a tsunami of infections,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) at a news conference on Wednesday.
WHO believes we can put an end to the phase of hospitalization and death, but that more vaccination is absolutely necessary. According to the WHO, it is important that at least 70 percent of the inhabitants of each of the world’s countries are vaccinated by the middle of next year.