Norway to phase out regional corona measures in 13 Viken municipalities

In 20 Viken municipalities that have had a high infection pressure, the regional measures will continue to apply. In 13 municipalities, the measures will be phased out. Furthermore, the level of measures will be lowered in 19 municipalities.

“The infection figures in Viken have flattened out recently, which indicates that the measures introduced on March 16 have had an effect. Nevertheless, several municipalities still have too high a level of infection. In these municipalities, the regional measures are therefore continued, either at the current level or at the B level of measures,” Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie said.

The Norwegian Directorate of Health, the National Institute of Public Health, the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken, and the affected municipalities have had a close dialogue on the matter, and most municipalities support the recommendation.

All the 51 Viken municipalities, as well as Gran Municipality in the Innlandet, were placed at the A level of measures – the strictest level – on March 16.

“Serious situation”

The 20 municipalities that must continue with the current level of measures until April 25 are Asker, Bærum, Drammen, Eidsvoll, Enebakk, Fredrikstad, Gjerdrum, Lier, Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Moss, Nannestad, Nes, Nordre Follo, Rakkestad, Rælingen, Råde, Sarpsborg , Ullensaker, and Ås.

In these 19 municipalities, the level of measures is being downgraded from level A to level B: Aurskog-Høland, Frogn, Halden, Hole, Hurdal, Hvaler, Indre Østfold, Jevnaker, Kongsberg, Lunner, Marker, Modum, Nesodden, Nittedal, Ringerike, Skiptvet, Vestby, Våler, and Øvre Eiker.

“The continuation of the strictest level of measures entails a very large burden for the inhabitants of these 20 municipalities. It was not the intention that measure level A should last over such a long period. At the same time, measure level B implies a too low level of measures given the serious situation these municipalities are in. Therefore, the Norwegian Directorate of Health and the National Institute of Public Health are now tasked with considering some temporary adjustments to the level A measures,” he added.

Phase-out

Finally, the measures for a number of municipalities where the infection pressure is low or non-existent are being phased out.

This applies to several municipalities outside the most densely populated areas in Eastern Norway. Several of these municipalities have been critical of the level of measures there, precisely because they have had very few or no coronavirus.

These are: Aremark, Flesberg, Flå, Gol, Hemsedal, Hol, Krødsherad, Nesbyen, Nore and Uvdal, Rollag, Sigdal and Ål in Viken. In addition, the regional measures in Gran Municipality in the Innlandet are being phased out.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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