“The pandemic is over”: the words we would all like to hear, pronounced by Norway Preben Aavitsland, medical director of the Institute of Public Health. First the announcement via Twitter, complete with a graph showing how hospital admissions in the Scandinavian country are at their lowest since the end of last summer. Then the more detailed explanation in the VG tabloid: «Here in Norway the pandemic is, so to speak, over. We can prepare for the coronavirus taking up very little space in our lives. However, the advice I give is to continue to respect the rules we have set ourselves. If we continue to do so soon we will really get rid of Covid ». Rules now more “relaxed” than ours: in Norway, to say, the use of a mask is only recommended, it is not mandatory.
Speaking with the state TV Aavitsland he resorted to a metaphor: “A fire chief would say the fire is out, the danger for people and their homes has gone away, but small flames remain here and there and we must remain vigilant ».
However, not everyone in Norway is so optimistic. The Deputy Director of the Norwegian Health Directorate Espen Nakstad is more cautious: «We are witnessing a progressive and encouraging decline in hospitalized but the pandemic is not over yet; Although in Norway we can see lower and lower infection rates as more people are vaccinated, it must be remembered that the Delta variant it is spreading fairly quickly in the UK. This means that we cannot fully relax in Norway until all will not have received their second dose of the vaccine“. That is until August-September:
the immunization campaign is proceeding swiftly (28% fully vaccinated, 42% with the first dose) despite the country having registered one of the lowest infection rates in Europe during all three phases of the pandemic, thanks to the low population density, the fairly isolated location, and the prompt intervention of the government. Infections and deaths were also lower than in neighboring Sweden – which avoided the lockdown – but also compared to Denmark, which adopted a similar approach to Norway. Furthermore, recalls Nakstad, “it will not be completely over in Norway until it is over in other countries as well “.
June 8, 2021 (change June 8, 2021 | 12:52 pm)
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