As coronavirus cases surge in Norway, officials eye voluntary mass testing — not masks — to keep schools safe

Priority is keeping schools safe without sacrificing normalcy for students

Despite an enviable vaccination rate, Norway is reporting more coronavirus cases than ever before, especially in teenagers and children. In response, Norwegian officials are launching (voluntary) mass testing campaigns in secondary schools across the country in order to try and prevent infections from rising further:

Students will be tested on Mondays and Thursdays. Schools will begin receiving shipments of enough tests to test pupils for between two and four weeks, and students will be given eight tests, or four weeks worth, at a time.

The reason for mass testing among students is that coronavirus infections are spreading primarily among young people. It’s also hoped that testing will help ease some of the demand on infection tracking services that have been put under strain because of outbreaks in schools and among young people. Pupils will need to test themselves, and while the testing will be voluntary, the municipality has urged all students to test themselves.

“By making the move to regular testing for all students, the schools can be kept open, and the strain tracing infected students is much lower,” the statement from Oslo Municipality read.