The director of Norway’s Institute of Public Health has just publicly spoken out to say that the country may have been able to achieve the same level of coronavirus mitigation even if it had not adopted aggressive lockdown policies.
Like much of the rest of the world, Norway decided to begin implementing strict stay-at-home rules in mid-March, even though they barely had any cases of the virus. Now, one top official is saying this may have been a mistake.
“It does not mean that we do not stand by the advice we gave then, given the knowledge base we had at the time,” said Camilla Stoltenberg, director general of the Institute of Public Health, according to The Local. “Our assessment now, and I find that there is a broad consensus in connection with the reopening, was that one could achieve perhaps the same effect and avoid some of the unfortunate impacts by not closing, but by keeping open with infection control measures.”
The agency that Stoltenberg presides over did not even call for the closures of school, saying it was not needed at the time but might be in the future. If there is indeed a second wave of coronavirus, which many experts have predicted, Stoltenberg is recommending that Norway not take such aggressive measures to lockdown.
“I think it will take a lot. And there is a strong willingness on the part of all parties to find instruments that are more gentle and more flexible,” she said. “What is needed is a commitment from the entire population to follow the infection prevention advice.”
This comes as an increasing number of Americans are questioning whether we went too far with our own coronavirus lockdown orders. Many Democratic leaders have taken this opportunity to implement incredibly strict lockdown measures, trying to control nearly every aspect of our lives. If it becomes apparent to more people that America made the same mistake that Norway did, we can only imagine the chaos that will ensue.
This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on May 27, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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