Norway learns to live with Corona

Update: Norwegian health authorities want to further relax some of the remaining corona-related restrictions. Those who test positive for Covid-19 will not be required to stay at home for four days as they do now, and the local testing center may be reduced from May 1.

The goal is simply to learn to live with a coronavirus that is consistent with other infections. Dr. Bjørn Guldvog, head of the State Health Department, suggested that government officials continue to phase out special corona containment measures.

Guldvog and his colleagues believe that it is enough to advise people with viral-like symptoms to call with illness, as if they had the flu. Self-diagnosis can be important during the transition period, but it is no longer considered necessary to control infection. Health officials recommended that the testing center be phased out by May 1, but Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol maintains the ability of local governments to prepare coronas and provide PCR tests to 1% of the population. I asked you to do it. They are indemnified for service by the state.

Reduce the responsibility of local governments
The Institute for Public Health FHI recommended that the state government evaluate whether the local government should continue to be responsible for providing inspection of the corona certificate. Another option is to have other private health care providers provide as needed so as not to overwhelm public sector health facilities, including Norwegian primary care physicians.

Both the FHI and the State Department of Health have been requested by the Government’s Ministry of Health to assess how Norway should handle the next or final stage of the pandemic. They generally agree that the transition from government-controlled trials to clinical trials may begin now. Only 14 days were considered necessary to publicize the change in the testing system.

Some local governments may still be closed, but local governments are required to continue to provide free rapid diagnostic kits for home use until September 1. Local governments are also encouraged to continue distributing free home test kits to people in high-risk groups. Or people who are in close contact with people at risk of corona infection until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, FHI has created four pandemic scenarios., They were all aimed at learning to live with the Covid-19 virus and its variants. The best scenario is that there are no serious illnesses, few seasonal effects, and only moderate spread of the virus in the fall and winter. Another optimistic scenario does not make people seriously ill, but involves the spread of mild varieties such as Omicron, which can bloom in the fall.

The third pessimistic scenario includes a new variant that is at least as contagious as Omicron, but does not make the infected person a serious illness. Worst scenarios include new variants that spread rapidly and can make people seriously ill again. When such variants arrive in Norway and begin to dominate, it can also bring about a new wave of illness that may demand new restrictions.

“We will continue to live with the virus, normalize society, continue vaccination of people in need of the virus, closely track progress and improve readiness,” FHI wrote in a new report. .. Health Minister Kjerkol, who submitted a corona status report to Congress on Tuesday, warned that the pandemic was not over yet. Therefore, proper monitoring and preparation is still needed to detect, evaluate, and handle unfortunate developments early. “

newsinenglish.no/Nina Berglund