Oslo Among the Reddest Cities in Europe

The number of corona infections in Oslo is increasing. It is likely that Oslo will be among the reddest cities in Europe, says assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad.

The health authorities are concerned about the development. During the last 24 hours, 68 new cases of infection have been confirmed.

– Oslo has a steadily rising trend, and this means that over time we are more concerned about Oslo than Bergen. It looks like there are constantly new local outbreaks that are of a certain size, Nakstad says to NRK.

While the corona outbreak in Bergen seems to be flattening out, the situation in the capital is the opposite.

– People do not understand the seriousness
Nakstad believes that the inhabitants of Oslo must now take greater responsibility for limiting the outbreak. He is concerned that people do not fully understand the seriousness and asks each individual to take more responsibility.

– I do not think there is any other way to reverse the development in Oslo than that most people start keeping more distance, and are better at staying home when they are sick, he says.

Last week, more than 210 cases of infection were registered. Such a high level has not been reported in a single week since April, according to the status report from Oslo Municipality.

Most infection among younger people

Younger age groups are experiencing the greatest increase in infection. The age group 20–29 years is at the top, followed by the age group 30–39 years.

The infection is distributed differently geographically in the city. The highest infection rates are in the districts of Alna and Old Oslo, while Stovner and Alna have the highest proportion of infected.

Nakstad believes the situation will improve if the citizens of Oslo manage to follow the infection advice better, as was done this spring.

– What we see now is that testing and infection tracking help. We manage to identify and stop the virus eventually, but it takes quite a long time before you get there because people do not keep enough distance, says Nakstad.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today