Not appropriate to isolate Oslo now

Governing Mayor of Oslo Raymond Johansen can’t rule out that the borders around the city must be closed to prevent infection, but says it is not a current issue now.

“There are many things I never thought I would do, but have done since March, so I have learned that it is not wise to exclude anything,” says Governing Mayor Raymond Johansen (Ap) to NTB.

He emphasizes that the isolation of Oslo is not something the city council is considering introducing right now.

“It is a hypothetical and topical issue now. Fortunately, we are far from a situation where we have to consider such powerful measures,” Johansen emphasizes.

“But I am concerned about the increased risk of infection, and we must be willing to consider drastic measures if it turns out that what we are doing now is not effective.”

Helsinki closed
In March, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin chose to isolate the capital Helsinki and the Uusimaa region, where the capital is located, in connection with increasing corona infection. The isolation was enforced by the police, who set up 30 checkpoints on the main roads.

In mid-April, however, the isolation was lifted, after it was found that it was contrary to the constitution.

“Other countries and cities have seen themselves forced to introduce far stricter restrictions than we have done so far in Norway and Oslo. The better we all are at following the infection control rules, the less the risk that we will have to consider very intrusive measures,” says Johansen.

“Red” infection level
Oslo has recently experienced increasing infection levels. This weekend, VG wrote that Oslo has registered 22.49 infected people per 100,000 inhabitants, which means that the municipality would be “red” according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s assessment of other countries.

The infection situation in the capital has led to several mayors in other municipalities now discouraging their residents from traveling to Oslo in order not to import infection.

“The most important thing now is to prevent the spread of infection and have surgically targeted measures to get hold of those who are infected, and isolate them,” says Johansen.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today