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COVID-19

Norway ‘enters new Covid wave’ as minister issues warning

Norway is at the beginning of a new wave of Covid-19, according to the latest report from the Norwegian Insitute of Public Health. Meanwhile, the Norwegian Minister of Health has said measures could return if hospitals are overrun.

Pictured is a somebody washing their hands.
Norway is currently in a new wave of Covid-19 according to a report from the Norwegian Insitute of Public Health. Pictured is a somebody washing their hands. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

The spread of coronavirus infection in Norway is increasing, and the number of deaths and hospitalisations is on the up, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) writes in its latest assessment of the virus in Norway. 

It added that the increase in Covid was likely the beginning of a new wave of the disease. 

“It is uncertain how big this wave will be, but it is likely that a winter wave with the variants we know now (about) will not put a significantly greater burden on hospitals than the summer wave in 2022 did,” the NIPH said in the report. 

Over the last week weeks, 316 people in Norway have been hospitalised with the coronavirus. 

Norwegian Minister of Health and Social Care, Ingvild Kjerkol, said that the government would bring back Covid-19 measures if hospitals became overrun with the virus. 

“We have plans to be able to step up measures, if necessary,” Kjerkol told Norwegian newswire NTB on Wednesday.

 “What we are particularly watching now is whether we get several epidemics at the same time, i.e. a tough season with, for example, winter flu and increased corona infection,” Kjerkol added. 

Earlier this week, Assistant Health Director at the Norwegian Directorate of Health, Espen Rostrup Nakstad, said that a new Covid-19 Omicron variant, which may be more resistant to vaccines, had begun to spread. 

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HEALTH

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The World Health Organization's European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. And the real figure may be much higher.

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

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