The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) believes there is a high risk that the United Kingdom and South Africa’s coronavirus variants will begin to spread in Norway.
The information appears in an updated risk assessment from the FHI about new variants of the coronavirus.
“The variants that have the greatest dispersibility, i.e., the highest R-number, will eventually dominate,” department director Line Vold at the FHI noted in a press release.
Since such variants spread faster, more effective measures are required to keep them under control, she added.
The virus mutations from the UK and South Africa have led to substantial increases in the pandemic in the countries in which they have gained a foothold.
On January 10, the FHI stated that it did not believe that the mutations had gained a foothold in Norway.
Concerned
Vold made it clear that the concern is greater now than when the previous risk assessment was presented at Christmas.
The British variant of the virus has led to a sharp increase in the epidemic in Britain and Ireland. The South African variant has led to a violent epidemic in South Africa.
In addition, the FHI is closely following a mutation from Brazil.
In Norway, these variants do not seem to have gained a foothold yet. So far, 25 cases of the British variant and one case of the South African have been detected.
The FHI is worried about Norway’s ability to keep the outbreaks under control it the mutated viruses gain a foothold in the country.
“These new variants are likely to be a serious threat to our ability to keep the epidemic under control in the coming months,” the risk assessment warns.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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… so … obviously … logically – facemasking in public should be mandatory and remorselessly enforced
… while there may still be time
… or we will be in Sweden’s crisis exactly because of this kind of foot-dragging.
From the other article, there seems to be fear that conservative voters for the government may resent this. Trump’s ostentatious refusal to facemask in the early months set an example for his voters which must have killed 1000s of them and in key precincts may have cost him the election. Deservedly!
So does Høyre want to lose votes from its older voters being killed by the virus or from possible voter resentment to mandatory facemasking( … especially since a recent poll showed a clear majority of Norwegians supporting facemasking)? The *moral* choice is clear.
You would not expect officials in such a highly educated society to be so … slow.
On the other hand, Swedes are highly educated too, and look at them.
Does education in Scandinavia program away independent individual judgment – common sense?