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The people of the Oslo region are again faced with confinement and very strict infection control measures. The government must do everything in its power to pave the way for reopening. Three measures will be key: increasing analytical capacity, stopping the importation of infection, and changing vaccination strategy.
RAYMOND JOHANSEN, Oslo City Councilor (Labor Party)
ROBERT STEN, City Councilor for Health in Oslo (Labor Party)
We have known for a long time that this pandemic is unpredictable. We have really realized in the last few days jak its effects can be unpredictable. Friday began with the government opening the World Cup in Norway. But the decision ended entirely in the shadow of the news of Fr. the outbreak of the British virus mutation in our neighboring municipality of Nordre Follo.
Contrary to cases that have been discovered in the past, Nordre Follo did not find the source of the infection during the epidemic. So, for the first time in Norway, we have a so-called wild mutant virus infection. In Ireland, the spread of the mutant virus led to a shift from good control to what the Irish prime minister called a "tsunami of infection" within weeks. If the same happens in Norway, the possibilities of the healthcare system may be destroyed.
It is therefore a good thing that the government, the national health authorities and the municipalities around Nordre Follo have acted swiftly. We don't have time to waste.
Some of the most stringent measures to date in a pandemic have now been put in place in the Oslo region. Such strict measures have serious negative consequences and we need a reopening plan quickly.
The government has the key. Three measures are absolutely crucial for our region now:
1. We need to know where the mutant virus is - then the analysis capabilities have to be greatly enhanced
Municipalities test thousands of residents for coronavirus every day. This is important, but in the future, your strategy cannot be just about testing as many as possible. As many positive tests as possible should be analyzed so that we can detect the spread of the mutant virus. If the mutant virus has spread on a large scale, we must take stringent measures over the long term. If this is not the case, and in most cases we find a pathway of infection, we can open up faster.
It took 13 days to analyze the suspected mutant virus from the Nordre Follo epidemic, the FHI reported on Friday. The municipality of Oslo waited even longer to receive responses to the samples we sent. This is not good enough. Therefore, the analytical capacity at the National Institute of Public Health must increase. All analytical opportunities must be seized and we believe that the government must open up so that private service providers and university hospitals can also contribute to the work. Denmark has put all the measures into this matter. Norway has to do the same. Rapid test results are critical to contain the British mutation, but also to be able to reopen.
2. We have to stop new imports of infections
Throughout the pandemic, Oslo City Council has called for more stringent measures against import infections, but it will be almost a full year before we finally get government approval.
Now there are better border controls, mandatory post-arrival testing and stricter quarantine rules. The government believes that we belong to the countries with the strictest regulations in Europe. But both the rules and their practice must now be so strict that we can actually stop importing a new infection. We are still concerned that the coronavirus disease is spreading into the country too easily, especially now that we are dealing with a mutant variant of the virus that is spreading even more easily.
Only this weekend on Oslo airport planes land, among others from the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ukraine, Serbia, Poland, Latvia and Germany. We fully understand that Oslo residents may consider it a great paradox that it is so easy to enter the country, and at the same time the city is closed due to several cases of a mutated virus with no known transmission route in a neighboring municipality.
We have been asking this for a long time, but the government has not yet considered what resources are actually needed in this serious situation. As long as we know that an extremely contagious virus is circulating in Europe, the government should consider whether this is warranted with so many newcomers who may be transmitting the infection. When people have to live with such burdensome measures, international mobility must in fact be given lower priority. If several people with an infection do not follow the rules well enough, the consequences can be very serious.
3. The vaccination strategy must target where the infection is greatest
The municipality of Oslo now has very good vaccination opportunities. We can give as many as 110 doses of the vaccine per week. But we do want enough vaccines. It's too slow so far. In our neighborhoods, staff and premises are ready, but there are not enough vaccinations.
We believe the government needs to redistribute vaccines so that residents who are more likely to get infections also have faster access to more vaccines. Here, large and small municipalities where many infections occur over time must be given priority no matter where in the country they are located. Oslo has been socially closed for almost three months. We pay a very high price with increased risk of infection, higher unemployment and bad times for our business community. The more vaccines we get, the sooner we can reopen. This weekend, Oslo and other municipalities around Nordre Follo took part in assuming national responsibility to contain the spread of the mutant virus. Today our population is under a heavy burden.
Therefore, we need a plan quickly so that we can get back to normal again. Oslo residents and businesses lined up. The communes around us do the same. Now the government needs to rapidly scale up analytical capacity, ensure better practice of measures against imported infections, and change vaccination strategy.
