Norway should not have done as neighboring Sweden did at the start of the corona pandemic. – No, is the short answer, says Øystein Olsen. He is the head of the corona committee, which on Friday presented its report on how the Norwegian authorities handled the pandemic. One of the committee’s tasks was to compare Norway’s handling with the other Nordic countries. Including Sweden, which for a long time had fewer and less strict measures than Norway. But it was right to take a strict line, Olsen believes: – There were quick actions, powerful measures, yes, invasive measures too. That is our main assessment, he says. He emphasizes that the committee has not evaluated the various countries’ handling of the pandemic. – But we give recognition to our own government’s handling. Children and young people were hit hard This is despite the fact that the committee believes that particularly vulnerable people suffered during the pandemic. Including children and young people: – Children and young people had to bear a disproportionately large burden, says Olsen. The authorities were also not smart enough to include organizations that work for children and young people when they put in place measures to prevent infection, the committee believes. Generally well handled The committee leader started the presentation with the conclusion: – The Norwegian authorities, overall, handled the pandemic in a good way. Norway comes out well on key outcome criteria, compared to other countries. This particularly applied to the number of deaths. But Norway was still too ill-prepared to handle a pandemic. Director of Health Bjørn Guldvog, Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap), Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) were all present when the report was handed over. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB The committee points out, among other things, that many sick people put great pressure on healthcare personnel. – The authorities should investigate the possibility of creating a national overview of healthcare personnel, which will constitute a critical capacity in future pandemic situations, says Olsen. The committee also believes that the basic capacity should be increased in large parts of the health service, in order to handle future pandemics better. Entry rules When the omikron variant arrived, the authorities should have learned from the earlier phases. Especially on rules for entering Norway. The authorities must learn from this for next time, the committee believes: – In the run-up to the next pandemic, it is crucial that entry measures can be set up quickly, that the system is manageable and that the measures are effective, says Olsen. Criticism of measures in schools On Thursday, news learned that the committee criticized one of the government’s measures. The government decided to keep upper secondary schools at the red level for parts of December 2021 and January 2022. The student organization was critical, while several teachers’ organizations welcomed the red level. Red level was the strictest level of measures in schools. Then, among other things, no sick people should meet at school, physical contact should be avoided, there should be distance between staff and students and smaller groups. It was introduced because there were too few self-tests. But it was not communicated well enough. – This may have contributed to the misunderstanding that the attitude of the teachers’ organizations had played a significant role, writes the committee. The committee also believes that there was too little information about the pandemic in other languages. It went beyond the information that minorities – including the Sami – received. Probably last report Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) received the report from Øystein Olsen. This is the third report that has been made about the corona pandemic in Norway – and probably also the last, said Støre. The Prime Minister is happy that the handling is generally praised by the committee, although the authorities also receive criticism. – There are concrete recommendations. We will take it with us. Because the next crisis will not be the same as the previous one, says Støre. This is the committee The committee was appointed in April 2022. The task was to evaluate the authorities’ handling of the corona pandemic in Norway. They were to look in particular at the handling of the omikron variant from 1 November 2021 to May 2022.
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The corona committee with report on omikron and corona in Norway – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
