– People are not afraid of infection – VG

Bergen has registered over 50 new cases of infection four days this week – on Friday the number was 62. This is the highest level of infection since November 18 when the municipality was deep in its worst wave of infection.

– We have increased the staffing on the infection tracking this weekend to maximum capacity. Part of the problem is that it is young adults with many close contacts who make infection tracking challenging, says acting infection control chief in Bergen Kjell Haug to VG.

34 of those infected are close contacts, eight are imported infections, while ten currently have an unknown route of infection. Five have not been mapped.

Although infection rates remain stable, the city council will wait to discuss further tightening until Monday.

– The level of infection is at the same level as earlier days this week. As long as it is not an explosive development, we must try to reach the goal of tracing the infection as we do now and vaccinating.

Most people who are now infected are unvaccinated people in the age group 20 to 29 years – a group Espen Nakstad this week said that the pandemic is continuing now.

– People do not pay attention

Several of the infections in Bergen also linked to a bunker party last weekend. To VG, municipal chief physician Trond Egil Hansen says that there will be more cases of infection stemming from the party.

The chief infection control officer believes that people do not take into account that the infection rates are high.

– The social activity is unchanged. In the city, we see the attitudes that prevail. People are not so afraid of infection and therefore do not pay much attention, says Haug.

He is supported by the health council in Bergen, Beate Husa (KrF).

– I do not think it only applies to young people. More and more people have lowered their guard and there is less use of face masks and people are not as good at keeping their distance, says Husa.

– I want to encourage people to have as few close contacts as possible now that the infection is higher than we are comfortable with, she says.

The infection in the city has not been higher since September last year. The Health Council emphasizes that the conditions are now different than they were last autumn.

– The situation is different now considering that there is no increase in hospital admissions and that so many have been vaccinated, especially in the risk group.

She says they on Monday will discuss the way forward, but that it does not necessarily mean new measures. Furthermore, she states that the municipality has an ongoing dialogue with NIPH and says they have given the municipality clear room for maneuver to handle the situation.

Haug, chief infection control officer, is optimistic about the coming week.

– The positive thing is that we will get good vaccines in the future. We expect to set 30,000 doses in the coming weeks and will prioritize the young people, says Haug.

Struggling to find patterns of infection

On Friday, infection control chief Kjell Haug said that there was infection in many different environments and that the municipality is struggling to find a clear pattern of the spread.

Several of the cases of infection are linked to parties and nightlife, and the municipality now encourages the nightlife industry to have an increased focus on infection control.

Until the opposite is proven, Haug says that they expect the delta variant to spread. The more contagious variant is now dominant in Norway.

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