Flu season is here, PostNord warn of ‘high season’ for scams and 45,000 fans flock to Rådhusplassen to welcome Norway team home. Here’s Norway’s news on Tuesday.
Flu season has arrived earlier than usual
The flu season has started earlier than usual this year, and could be the worst in ten years, experts warn ‒ partly due to the fact that a new, more aggressive influenza virus is in circulation this year.
“We usually see infections rise around Christmas, when people in the eastern parts of the country meet those in the west,” Bergen’s infection control supervisor Marit Voltsersvik told public broadcaster NRK. “This year it’s come noticeably earlier.”
According to the Institute of Public Health, influenza has been discovered in all counties, although so far Oslo, Møre and Romsdal, Trøndelag and Akershus are the worst hit.
Voltersvik told NRK that she is concerned about how early the virus has hit this year.
“People simply haven’t had time to get vaccinated before the virus spreads,” she said. “And on top of that, there are people who don’t get vaccinated because of increased vaccine hesitancy during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
READ ALSO: How to get the flu vaccine jab in Norway this autumn
Rebecca Cox, director of the Influenza Centre in Bergen, is encouraging everyone to get vaccinated ‒ even those who aren’t in a risk group.
“Vaccination is more important than ever, and time is ticking,” she told NRK. “It’s not just about protecting yourself, but also those around you.”
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Black Friday and Christmas ‘high season’ for scams
PostNord are warning consumers of fake emails and texts during the holiday season which look increasingly like legitimate messages from the postal company.
“This year we’re seeing scammers use increasingly advanced methods. AI is making it easier to make very believable emails and texts which look like those we actually send out,” the company’s head of safety and risk, Nils Engevold, told the NTB newswire. “It can be difficult for even experienced users to tell the difference.”
He added that PostNord will never ask consumers for personal details or payment through links in emails or texts.
“Christmas and Black Friday are high season for scams,” he said. “We know that Norwegians are shopping online more than ever before, and that also means they are a goldmine for scammers. Be sceptical, and always check who the sender is before you click.”
Crowds at Oslo’s Rådhusplassen to celebrate Norway’s World Cup qualification
If you noticed that Oslo seemed busier than usual last night, there’s a good reason for that.
Norway qualified for their first World Cup since 1998 on Sunday, and an estimated 45,000 fans flocked to Rådhusplassen in Oslo on Monday night to welcome the team home from Italy.
“It’s so crazy to feel the support and love we’re getting today,” captain Martin Ødegaard told the crowd. “The fact that so many people came here to see us… it’s fantastic. Thank you so much, everyone.”
A number of senior members of the support team were moved to tears by Norway’s qualification.
“You can feel the power in football, and how it brings people together,” Brede Hangeland, the team’s sports coordinator, told NRK. “It’s a Monday evening and there are so many people here. You can feel what it means. What we’re doing means something.”
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Norway lacking drivers with winter road experience
More than 20 percent of employees at postal group Posten/Bring are over 62 years old, and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise predicts that the country could lack as many as 2500 to 3000 drivers in 2030, if the the trend continues.
Lorry driver Kjell Hansen, who has worked for Posten/Bring for 8 years and has 25 years of experience, told NRK that it’s “sad” that the industry is struggling with recruitment.
“Maybe the people in this job are a bit odd,” he said. “Maybe that’s why we can’t recruit, there are too few odd people.”
He added that a lorry driving certificate means you’ll “never be unemployed”.
“It’s like the healthcare sector, you’re guaranteed a job for as long as you want one.”
The head of Posten’s northern region, Torstein Nygård Johansen, told NRK that in the region where Hansen works six positions have been open for more than a year.
“It’s really difficult to get hold of good drivers who know how to handle northern Norway’s winter roads,” he said, adding that the sector would traditionally hire people from eastern Europe, and Poland especially. The war in Ukraine meant that many Ukrainian drivers stopped working in Poland, which means Polish drivers left Norway to drive lorries there, where salaries are higher.