In Norway, 3022 people have been diagnosed with corona infection in the last 24 hours. On Sunday, 356 corona patients were admitted to the hospital. Of the patients, 117 were in the intensive care unit, of whom 74 were in the respiratory tract.
Espen Rostrup Nuxstad, assistant director of the Norwegian Directorate of Health, tells Docbladet that he encourages everyone to learn about the vaccine and that it is still possible to get the first dose even if they have not been vaccinated. So far.
– Infection control measures and vaccinations seem to have begun to curb delta variation. The question is how fast the Omigron variant spreads. But it does not seem to be spreading as fast as we thought, says Nuxstad.
Here are the worrying numbers
Promotes vaccination
He comes with two up-to-date news on the epidemic situation in Norway and worldwide.
First, there are currently no signs that Omigran can cause a more serious disease. Reports from South Africa indicate that patients are not as ill as Delta, but it is too early to say. The good news is, research shows that if you take a booster dose, there is still protection against serious illness, says Nuxstad.
Although the number of Norwegian-born people admitted to hospital by Corona last week has decreased, the number of hospital admissions has increased. The reason is the strong growth of patients born abroad. The National Public Health Agency (NIPH) says in its latest weekly report that the trend of new patients being admitted to hospital with coronary heart disease among Norwegian-born is now declining.
– This reflects the situation in the countries where many people travel, for example, when they come to work in Norway. So it is important that we are aware of this and vaccinate them at work, ”says Nuxstad.
Hard to predict
He did not dare predict how long measures would be needed to control the infection, and when the virus would be less severe than it is today. Pfizer CEO Nanette Cocero recently said that by 2024 corona disease will be at a point where it will only cause mild symptoms.
– It is uncertain when we will get there. Immunity develops and at some point the virus is prevented from spreading rapidly. The virus then appears in most places during the winter months. But Nuxstad says the virus will not go away in 2024:
– It is completely impossible to estimate how long the epidemic will last, but 2022 will be the year that most people in the world will be vaccinated. We hope this will give us another environment in which we can live normally.
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