Statement on the press conference about the Corona Virus Situation

Good afternoon everybody.

I have just spoken in the Storting.

It is now necessary for us to implement tighter measures.

I therefore have an important message for the Norwegian people.

We must take responsibility.

Over the coming weeks, we must:

• Stay at home as much as possible
• Have as little contact with others as possible

During the course of the last three weeks, we have recorded more than 6,000 infections in Norway.
The curve is becoming steeper with each week that passes.
And the true rate of infection is even higher.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health estimates that 60 per cent of infections remain undiscovered.
This means that there are further, hidden infections concealed in our midst.

There are outbreaks in every county nationwide.
The infection is spreading especially quickly in and around the cities of Oslo and Bergen.
There are outbreaks and clusters in many municipalities.
In other municipalities, the infection is more sporadic.
There have also been outbreaks among employees during brief stays in Norway.

Municipalities are facing increasing challenges in terms of their contact tracing activities.
Several municipalities are close to the limit of how many infected people they are able to track and trace.

 

We introduced several new restrictions last week.
These were wholly necessary.
However, the rate of infection has still continued to rise substantially.
This means we are unable to wait and see what the impact of the measures is.
There is no time to be spared.

We are therefore introducing even tighter measures today.

The most important thing at present is to guarantee the lives and health of this country’s citizens.

I want to emphasise that if the current rate of infection continues, the number of people admitted to intensive care units will rise dramatically in the coming weeks.
This will result in less intensive care capacity for others who are seriously ill.

We are now at the same stage that the Netherlands found itself in at the beginning of September.
A very rapid increase in infections in the Netherlands quickly led to more patients in intensive care.
They recorded an increase from approximately 50 intensive care patients in mid-September to 500 by the end of October.

Other European nations have had similar experiences.

This is therefore a situation of the utmost gravity.
And we must take responsibility together.

It is absolutely necessary if we are to avoid another lockdown.

Bent will now outline the measures.