The use of face masks in Norway could become recommended in the event of a resurgence in the amount of infected. Iceland has introduced it as a partial requirement while Denmark recommends the use of a face mask.
-”If face masks are to be used, they should be used correctly. You must ensure that the face mask covers both the mouth and the nose.”, says the Department Director, Line Vold, of the National Institute of Public Health (FHI) at Friday’s press conference on the Corona situation.
-”At the event of a resurgence, face masks can be recommended in Norway, for example, in situations where it is difficult to practice social distancing. Our recommendation will be sent to the Ministry in mid-August.”, said Vold.
Many countries have introduced a requirement on the use of face masks in different situations where people are close to each other. Iceland was the first to do so among our Nordic neighbors. On Friday, the country introduced the requirement for the use of face masks where it is not possible to keep a distance of two meters, including public transportation, airplanes, and at the barber. At the same time, the government is tightening other measures in the wake of a flare-up of the infection in Iceland.
In Denmark, the health authorities are encouraging people to bring face masks when they use public transportation and to use them if it gets tight in buses, train, and the metro.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
GOOD to see this, but people should be buying them (at the apoteks) now, before there is a run on them … and shortage. I would think that teachers and school kids as well as others who serve the public like librarians, train conductors, bus drivers, … will be needing them.
And Norway and Sweden are being held up as examples of countries NOT wearing them on Yahoo! News … which no longer allows comments to correct the impression the current article leaves that Norway is *against* them.
The more I think about this, this Yahoo! News misrepresentation of Norway is serious and should be publicly corrected by Norwegian health authorities. My comment on Washington Post:
Meanwhile Yahoo! News is showcasing Cold War anti-Soviet comedian and self-proclaimed Branson Missouri resident Yakov Smirnoff coming out against facemasks. Why? To kill off more Trump voters who are presumably his neighbors?
And Yahoo! News is doing this while running an article flat LYING that: “Nordic countries reject virus face masks as others require them,” falsely citing Sweden *and Norway* as examples.
It may be true for Sweden which is at over 5,000 mostly its elderly dead – Ättestupa population culling updated? – and counting, but thanks to early extreme lockdown, Norway got the virus completely under control and hasn’t *needed* to mask … until now, with the virus starting to rebound here. The need for using masks if the virus re-surged has been discussed in Norway previously and this just came out TODAY:
https://norwaytoday.info/news/face-masks-might-be-recommended-in-norway-already-introduced-in-iceland-and-denmark/#comment-85916
Washington Post should publicly call out Yahoo! News for its FALSE news or at least for YN refusing to let commenters correct its lies.
I took a second look at the WaPo article, and it is JARRING, especially regarding kids going back to school without adequate prevention/protection:
“A new report suggests that children of all ages are susceptible to coronavirus infection and may also spread it to others — a finding likely to intensify an already fraught discussion about the risks of sending children back to school this fall.
The analysis, released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, details an outbreak at a sleep-away camp in Georgia last month in which 260 children and staffers — more than three-quarters of the 344 tested — contracted the virus less than a week after spending time together in close quarters. The children had a median age of 12.
The camp had required all 597 campers and staff members to provide documentation that they had tested negative for the virus before coming. Staff were required to wear masks, but children were not.
While similar clusters have occurred around funerals, weddings, teenage parties and adult gatherings throughout the pandemic, few super-spreading events have been documented among children.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/07/31/georgia-children-covid-outbreak/#comments-wrapper
***
Note that this was in *Georgia* … of course.
And here in Norway, my 9 year old daughter just went on a weekend canoe trip – 8 to a tent – she had a WONDERFUL time 🙂 … but …. :worried:
And they don’t require facemasks in my Oslo (face-to-face) boardgames club, so I and a few others have not been going, after they resumed meetings.
Norway needs a national pro-facemask policy, while there may still be time.