Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

BERGEN

Bergen: Increased Covid-19 infection rates reported in Norwegian city

New data indicates an increase in Covid-19 infection rates in the Bergen health authority.

Published: 12 January 2021 17:04 CET
Bergen: Increased Covid-19 infection rates reported in Norwegian city
Photo: Florencia Viadana on Unsplash

The reproduction rate or R-number in the area has increased from 1.0 to 1.7, according to new calculations reported by NRK.

If the R-number is above 1.0, the number of infected in a society will grow because each infected person will pass on the virus to an average of more than one other person. If the R-number is slightly below 1.0, the number will decline. 

Bergen’s health authority, Helse Bergen, said in a press statement that the R-number in the area had increased from 1.0 to 1.7 since last week, but that the calculation includes a degree of uncertainty.

“It is as we expected and feared that the R-number increases during and after New Year. There’s an increase in the number of infected people in the area in the last seven days, and that includes imported infections,” Helse Bergen CEO Eivind Hansen said in the statement.

Without imported cases, the R-number is estimated to be 1.3.

“This is a strong reminder that social distancing rules and other anti-infection rules are still important to follow,” Hansen added.

The southwestern city had local coronavirus restrictions in place during much of November and December, but eventually lifted them saying it had “turned around” a Covid-19 outbreak.

READ ALSO: Bergen lifts local Covid-19 restrictions

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
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.” 

READ ALSO: 

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.

SHOW COMMENTS