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NORWEGIAN HEALTH MINISTER BENT HØIE ANNO

SOLBERG

Norway to open kindergartens in first step to end lockdown

Norway's government has announced plans to open kindergartens from April 20 in the first stage of a gradual lifting of the country's coronavirus lockdown.

Norway to open kindergartens in first step to end lockdown
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg watched Health Minister Bent Høie at the press conference on Tuesday. Photo: Screen grab
“Our ambition is that all students, in one way or another, should be able to return to school before the summer,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. 
 
One week after kindergartens open, on April 27, pupils in their first four years of school (up until the age of eleven), will return to classes, with the higher grades also returning at some point before the summer, the government said. 
 
In a press release, the government estimated that the decision would allow about 275,000 children to return to kindergartens on 20 April, and 250,000 to primary schools on 27 April, freeing hundreds of thousands of the parents from the need to provide childcare during working hours. 
 
University students who are near the end of their studies and have a need to be physically present at their institution will also be allowed to return. Those would include nursing and medical students, those studying art, performance, music, media, and design, and also those studying maths and technological subjects. 
 
Solberg stressed though that the move did not amount to a decision to allow a controlled increase in infections to develop immunity in the population.
 
“We want to stick to what we know works. We must continue with the 'knock-down' strategy,” she said.  “What we are doing now is opening up a little, but I want to emphasise as strongly as I can, that this does not mean that we can become more careless in other areas.” 
 
Norway's government also said it would lift the unpopular ban on people staying in their country cabins, with stays allowed from April 20, although the government stressed that it continued to advise against unnecessary travel.
 
Parents who cross national borders to visit their children will be excused the normal 14-day quarantine. 
 
Hairdressers and other businesses that are closed to protect people against infection will be allowed to open from April 27, but the government intends to draw up guidelines informing them on how to operate in a way which minimises infection. 
 
The ban on cultural, sporting and other events will be extended until June 15, although ordinary sports activities will be allowed if they do not conflict with social distancing recommendations. 
 

One-on-one healthcare providers, such as psychologists, physiotherapists and psychologists, will be be able to treat patients again from April 20.  

Education minister Guri Melby said the government was now working with schools and kindergartens on what measures needed to be taken to minimise the spread of the virus once they open. 

 

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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