Three out of four Norwegians believe that Norway was not prepared well enough to handle a pandemic before the coronavirus crisis occurred.
Only 18% of respondents in a new survey think the country was prepared well enough, while the rest are uncertain. One year ago, 33% believed the preparedness was sufficient.
“Although Norway has fared much better in the pandemic than most countries, Norwegians are more skeptical this year than last year about how well Norway was prepared to handle a pandemic,” senior adviser Nora Clausen in Opinion noted.
At the same time, 64% of respondents said that they trust the information provided by the government, which is an increase of 3% from June. 11% percent do not trust the information from the government, while the rest are insecure.
Furthermore, 68% trust the information provided by the health authorities – an increase of 2% from June. 20% do not trust the information provided by the Norwegian health authorities.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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If you had asked these same people before this never-before-in-modern-times pandemic if there was going to be one, they most likely would have said no. Hindsight is always perfect.
My concern is about the reluctance to mandate facemasking, since it was obviously essential from March 9, 2020, the date of that South China Morning Post article I referred to on here back then which was when the virus was already well known to be undetected and virulently contagious in a person for as long as 10 days and that it was an aerial virus.
However, the Høyre government’s unexpectedly RADICAL lockdown averted the initial need for facemasking in public, although it obviously should have been immediately implemented in the nursing homes. (I sent an e-mail to Forsvars and the Veteransenter in Kongsvinger about this, back then.)
The virus is mutating possibly faster than the vaccines can keep up with it, and facemasking in public – especially on public transportation – is still vital.