In his speech to the people, which was recorded at Kongsseteren since the king is in quarantine, the king also pointed out that there is now a special need to show confidence.
– “We find ourselves in a situation that is both unreal, alien and frightening for all of us. We do not recognize our everyday life or the world around us. And yet we are only standing at the beginning of something we do not fully know the consequences of,” King Harald opened.
He then emphasized that the most important task now is to try to curb the dramatic development by following the orders given by the authorities.
“The uncertainty makes us vulnerable and the seriousness makes us anxious,” said the king, saying that the new everyday life can give us a sense of powerlessness.
King Harald emphasized that Norway is known as a trusting society and that there is now a special need to show each other confidence, in that everyone takes responsibility for preventing the spread of infection and that the country’s authorities make the right decisions.
“My thoughts and prayers are with you all now,” said King Harald, mentioning both the sick, their relatives, the health personnel, those who are experiencing financial loss and those who attend to important social functions.
The King also encouraged everyone to take extra care of the children, who may be particularly anxious about what is happening.
King Harald concluded by reminding us that we all need a little extra kindness in the times to come.
– “Together we stand in this. And together we will be able to get through what lies ahead,” he said.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
This is the kind of compassionate, caring-for-others I have learned to expect fra Kong Harald. He was a pillar of strength for Norway in July 2011 også.
And something *everyone* can do to help is to wear a facemask – generic or homemade so the professional supply can be reserved for the health staff who will need it most – for *others’* sake (as hard as that is for some self-centric people in our Western countries to understand and do).
On British Independent, a British doctor is quoted as saying, “Don’t think about changing your behaviour so that you won’t get it, think about changing your behaviour so you don’t give it to somebody else.”
… which is exactly why we should ALL be wearing generic and/or homemade facemasks … to help avoid spreading the infection (we may have but don’t know we have) when we sneeze, cough, or just breathe.
Even the CDC states “A facemask should be used by people who have COVID-19 and are showing symptoms. This is to protect others from the risk of getting infected.”
Except, as Dr. Fauci testified to Congress: “What makes this virus especially tricky to contain is that it apparently can be spread by people who do not know they’re infected and are not yet showing symptoms of covid-19. That wasn’t the case with SARS,….”
And the virus can take up to 14 days to show symptoms. Meanwhile, the infected are spreading it around with abandon … which is *why* it is spreading like wildfire … unless they are made to wear some sort of facemask to inhibit doing that.
Everyone wearing a facemask is now MANDATORY in China and Macau and apparently a major reason they have the epidemic under control.
And I’ll match my diagonally folded pillow case tied at the back of my neck and secured below under my jacket (or with a long thin rubber band or piece of string) against anyone else’s. (I just washed it with chlorine bleach for re-use this morning.)
This also gives *everyone* a chance to get involved DOING something pro-active … and SHOW concern for others.
Oh, and wearing some sort of mask can also help remind us not to touch our faces.
I am proud to be partly of Norwegian heritage
Here is a make-it-yourself article which may be useful: http://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20200321-things-to-do-under-coronavirus-lockdown-make-your-own-face-mask-to-ease-shortage-health-workers-covid-19
This deadly epidemic is just starting in Norway, and *preventive* measures must be taken NOW, before it really takes off and overwhelms our health people and hospitals who are indeed at grave risk.
I have also seen an article that isopropyl alcohol can disinfect disposable professional/medical masks, but that should be confirmed by health authorities.