Norway to announce a change in infection control strategy

Following weeks of rising coronavirus cases, Norway’s health minister Ingvild Kjerkol has said that the government will announce a change in infection control strategy. 

The minister said the change was coming after receiving a letter from mayors in western Norway saying that the current strategy was not working. 

READ MORE: The current status of the Covid-19 epidemic in Norway

“We are considering all measures at all levels now. The strategy that applied based on the reopening in September will be revised now. We no longer consider it pragmatic,” Kjerkol told public broadcaster NRK. 

“I announce a revision of this strategy, and then the Prime Minister will report to the Storting on Tuesday. Then we will make more assessments,” she added. 

In September, the previous government announced the return to normal everyday life with increased preparedness. 

Health authorities: Current measures not enough

The Norwegian Directorate of Health and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) believe that current measures to combat Covid-19 aren’t working, requiring a new infection control strategy. 

“It looks like the measures we have now are not sufficient to reverse the infection trend. This also has something to do with compliance, that enough people follow the advice,” Espen Nakstad, assistant director at the Norwegian Directorate of Health, told broadcaster TV2.

Along with the NIPH, the health authority has been working on new recommended measures, which they have passed on to the government. 

RS virus in Norway may have peaked

The outbreak of RS virus may have reached its peak in Norway, but the number of cases remains very high, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has said. 

In its latest report on influenza, the health institute said that there was a decrease in the proportion of RS-virus positive samples in all Norwegian counties- except Innlandet, Nordland and Troms og Finnmark. 

The weekly report showed that influenza cases were quite low. However, it is still incredibly early in the flu season. 

2,970 new Covid-19 infections

On Thursday, 2,970 people tested positive for Covid-19, an increase of 544 on the same day the week before. 

Over the last seven days, an average of 2,375 cases have been registered. The corresponding average a week prior was 1,919.