Corona infections almost double in Norway

The number of infections in Norway has almost doubled to 728 last week. The local outbreaks in Bergen, Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg are responsible.

20.6 infected per 100,000 inhabitants have been registered in weeks 35 and 36 in total, FHI writes in the most recent weekly report.

Thus, the infection in Norway is at the red level.

The increase in registered cases of infection to 728 in week 36 is almost double the normal in weeks 32–35. During these weeks, the number of infections has varied from 357 to 377.

It is largely the local outbreaks in Bergen, Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg that are behind these numbers.

“Relatively low level”
FHI’s overall assessment is, however, that the spread of infection is still at a «relatively low level in the population at the national level».

FHI also points out that no increase has been seen in hospital admissions or deaths.

“One explanation is that the infection in recent weeks has primarily occurred in younger people with a low risk of a serious case” FHI reports. “At the same time, the extensive testing and infection tracing probably contributes to us detecting more cases which are mild.”

According to FHI’s calculations, the so-called reproduction figure (R) has been 0.72 after 1 August. This means that each infected person infects an average of 0.72 new people.

The probability that R is in reality higher than 1 is calculated to be 19 percent.

Only 1.2 percent have been infected
All in all, FHI estimates that 1.2 percent of the population in Norway has now been infected with the coronavirus.

This has been confirmed by weekly examinations where Norwegians have been invited to take a blood sample for analysis of coronavirus antibodies. In total, more than 6,000 people participated in these surveys, and antibodies were detected in 1.2 percent of all those tested.

At the same time, mathematical models indicate that up to 2,053 people were contagious in Norway on 7 September.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today