Doctors all over the country are preparing for a large influx of patients, both in the run-up to Christmas and in the period after New Year. Also GP Anders Rosø at Skei in Sunnfjord municipality. In recent weeks, the municipality has had a sharp increase in various viral diseases such as corona and influenza. – We are well prepared and have good training from the pandemic. General practitioner Anders Rose in Sunnfjord municipality is excited about how big the influx will be this Christmas. He believes the peak of infections will come in the new year. Photo: Håvard Heggen / news This Christmas can quickly become like “the perfect storm”: Various factors that strike at the same time, causing many to lie flat for the next few days. In the latest weekly report to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), it is shown that the flu is on the rise, with a doubling of admissions in the last week. The RS cold virus is still increasing, with most hospitalizations in children under the age of five. Epidemics of respiratory tract infections are increasing rapidly and will in the future “put a heavy burden on the health service”. Covid-19 is still at a high level. On top of it all, the season of communicable disease with norovirus is just around the corner. – It is common to have a lot of infection at Christmas. This year it is probably worse because there have been few of these diseases in the last couple of winters. Back then there were many people who didn’t get infected, and they now have poorer immunity, says director of the Institute of Public Health, Preben Aavitsland. Requirements for sick leave If you fall ill at Christmas, you are entitled to be compensated for the holiday days you have taken. Lawyer in LO, Kristin Bomo, points out that there are certain things that are worth thinking about. It can be summed up as follows: 1. It is possible to get back lost holiday days, even if the illness strikes at the end of the year. The law allows for moving holiday days to the following year. 2. In case of illness, you must contact a doctor and obtain a medical certificate to make up for lost holiday days. Self-declaration does not work. – The law states that it must be presented “without undue delay” after the work has resumed. This means that you must present the medical certificate as soon as is practically possible after the holiday, says Bomo. It is also worth noting that Christmas Eve this year is on a Saturday, so there will be more “weekdays” in Christmas Eve than normal. If you want to have the whole of Christmas off, you must take four holiday days to make up for it, from Tuesday to Friday. These are the days you may be compensated for if you are ill, not the public holidays. You cannot replace lost holiday days without contacting a doctor. Photo: Sara Johannessen Meek / NTB Get in touch in time Head of the Association of General Practitioners, Nils Kristian Klev, says GPs around the country are foreshadowing a big boom this year. – There is a risk that this will be a busy time. Although the Holiday Act gives the right to recover lost holiday in the event of illness, he specifies that you must be genuinely ill. – The requirement only applies if you are 100 per cent sick. It must be an illness that makes you unable to work. In other words: If you are a bit “fussy”, where you can work for example 50 per cent, then it is perhaps just as well not to try to get hold of the doctor. – I would advise people to carefully assess the need before they contact a doctor, if there is no medical need. You must contact a doctor when you are actually ill, not a week later when you start to get well again, says the head of the Norwegian Association of General Practitioners, Nils Kristian Klev. Photo: Thomas B Eckhoff / The Norwegian Medical Association But if you notice that you are 100 per cent unable to work, it is important to contact a doctor when you become ill. It is too late to pick up the phone after the New Year when you have almost recovered. – One must make contact as soon as possible to document the need. It is no use coming afterwards to claim that you have been ill. The peak probably over the New Year FHI believes that the high number of infections will continue through Christmas and into the New Year. Preben Aavitsland says Christmas can put a certain damper on the spread of infection, because many people are away from work and school then – and that it will then increase again at the beginning of January. – I’m afraid this won’t turn around until well into the new year, says the specialist director. But the level of infection is from before sky-high so far in December, far higher than normal. – If we only look at the number of new hospital admissions, there are now around 500 more per week than at the same time before the pandemic. As there is already so much infection everywhere in Norway and Europe, people can just travel as normal, without it having anything significant to say about the infection rate, according to FHI. Preben Aavitsland in FHI says many people will get sick this Christmas, but thinks the infection peak will not come until after New Year. Photo: Kjartan Bjelland / FHI
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Expect a rush of sick calls at Christmas – you are entitled to this – news Vestland
