– I was quite pissed off, says former health minister Bent Høie. In his new book “Trouble in the time of the corona”, Høie has via a chapter the conflict he had with city council leader Raymond Johansen in the autumn of two years ago. The chapter has been named “If you don’t do it, I will”. Here, Høie tells about what happened in the run-up to the press conference that Johansen held on 28 September 2020. Criticizing the rhetoric “We don’t do that”, was a regular feature when Johansen briefed on new corona measures in Oslo this Monday. What the city council refused to do was to follow the Directorate of Health’s advice and introduce measures as strict as the health authorities wanted. Høie told news that Johansen was sent proposals for measures on the Friday before the press conference, but that Johansen did not want to introduce them. – In the media, Raymond began to argue for a “wait and see” attitude. Then I went out to the media on Sunday and said that I had to consider implementing measures nationally, says Høie. Bent Høie became well known for his thumbstick when he was Minister of Health. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB The former health minister says that he did not experience the conflict as positive and that it was poorly received by the population. – It is important to take it in. The second is that when the press conference came, Oslo largely introduced the measures that we had wanted. That is good, but the rhetoric Raymond uses actually undermined the effect of the measures, says Høie. When Høie and Johansen met in the Political Quarter the next day, Høie said that he chose not to continue the conflict even though he was quite angry. – I had to add the positive side, say that I was satisfied with the measure and not start talking about the rhetoric, which I think was terribly wrong in such a situation, says Høie. – Poor food – This is very poor food from Høie, says city council leader Raymond Johansen. That Høie devotes parts of the book to the conflict between them, the city council leader thinks that Høie must be allowed. At the same time, he disagrees with the appointment of the former health minister. – It shows that the world can look a little different from far up there in the Ministry of Health, rather than being close to a city and a population that is hardest hit, he says. – But I don’t think anyone recognizes this guilt that we didn’t introduce measures. I’m surprised by it. I had a good collaboration with Høie during the pandemic, adds Johansen. City council leader Raymond Johansen is deeply disagreed with the appointment of Bent Høie. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Raymond Johansen says that the city council was praised after the press conference that Monday in September. – Then I have to ask myself the question: Did he lie that Monday when he bragged about Oslo? The city councilor emphasizes that it is the municipalities that are responsible for the infection control act and legitimizes the “We don’t do it” rhetoric in this. – We wanted to be masters in our own house. One of the great successes in dealing with the pandemic was the responsibility of the municipalities. The fact that we should continue to have responsibility, to look at the integrity and coherence of the measures, is also a requirement of the Infection Control Act, he says. – The infection took hold Raymond Johansen also has in his “corona book” a separate chapter to what he believes was portrayed as a “cockfight” between him and Høie. But while the city council leader downplays the conflict with Høie in the chapter “We don’t do that”, Høie criticizes Raymond Johansen about how he handled the infection situation in autumn 2020. – Raymond has left out quite important information in his book about this, says Høie. In his book, Høie writes, among other things, that he thinks Johansen is doing a lot to get more vaccines to Oslo’s population and that he is quick to blame the government and the imported infection when he is challenged about the high infection rate in Oslo: If Johansen and the city council had worked as hard as they did to suppress the infection when it spread in the city this autumn, they had also spared the population long-term and strict measures, I think in my quiet mind. Assistant director of health Espen Nakstad has also directed criticism at Raymond Johansen in connection with the handling of the pandemic. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB – I think that because he did not follow professional advice and because of the rhetoric he used, the infection took hold. I’m not saying it was the only reason, but that it was a contributing factor to the infection taking hold, says Høie. Johansen strongly disagrees. – Nakstad was out with the same thing in his book, and now Høie is writing it here. There is no professional evidence for that. Neither on the basis of increased infection rates nor the measures we introduced, he says.
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Bent Høie comes out against Raymond Johansen in new book – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
