COVID-19

NOTES

Who has died from COVID-19?

At least six million people have died from COVID-19 to date. But who dies is often not random. The same pattern is found around the world.

Super quick COVID test uses new technology

The ability of gold particles to reflect light in different colours is used in applications from stained glass to pregnancy tests. Now researchers are set to exploit the same properties in an ultra-fast sensor for the coronavirus.

A young man greetings an old woman through a glass window. Both holding their hands on the window from opposite sides

Coronavirus measures have actually been pretty mild

Norwegians are unspeakably tired of the measures imposed by the country’s Minister of Health, Bent Høie. But historian Erik Opsahl says the measures are mild compared to the old days. Imported infection during pandemics used to be stopped by gunfire.

Elderly person getting a vaccine.

How safe are the new Covid vaccines?

The new vaccines designed to combat the Covid-19 virus have been developed in record time, causing some people to be sceptical of taking them. Should we be worried about side effects? Norwegian SciTech News has been talking to two research scientists about this issue.

This is how the new Covid-19 vaccine works

Pfizer has recently announced that it is ready with a Covid-19 vaccine that is 90 percent effective. The vaccine is a so-called mRNA vaccine that has been developed jointly by Pfizer and BioNTech. But what is mRNA technology, and how does it work?

NTNU’s new COVID-19 test to be used in India and Denmark

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has signed agreements to deliver as many as one million COVID-19 test kits to DTU, the Technical University of Denmark, and APS LABS, an Indian biotech company. “It is very positive that this technology can now also be useful internationally,” says Bent Høie, Norway’s Minister of Health and Care Services.

NTNU establishes a factory to produce coronavirus tests

NTNU researchers recently figured out a whole new method for testing people for the coronavirus. The university is now producing tests on a continuous basis, under the auspices of the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Currently 100 000 tests a day are being manufactured, with production soon likely to be scaled up dramatically.