1000 students have been quarantined in Gjøvik – NRK Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio

The number of infected in the municipality of Gjøvik is constantly increasing.

On Wednesday, 297 students and 24 teachers from the Kopperud school were quarantined. Furthermore, 220 students and 60 upper secondary school teachers in Gjøvik are under quarantine.

In total, more than 1,200 students and 90 teachers from Gjøvik schools are now in quarantine.

On Tuesday, up to 23 new cases of infection were registered in the city. Three new ones appeared on Wednesday morning.

A total of 82 people are registered as infected during the month of October.

Serious

– The situation is serious. A couple of weeks ago, there was no infection. So it’s been quite a dramatic change, says Magnus Mathisen, a Gjøvik councilor.

The infection in Gjøvik is mainly concentrated in two settings. Most of the infection cases in recent days belong to these two environments.

Therefore, Mathisen believes that they have control over the situation and will not implement any more new measures for the time being.

– Right now we are in control, but we have no guarantee of how it will develop further. There are a few scattered exceptions, but we have control over all of them. Therefore, we have no evidence that the infection is spreading.

Demanding for students

Gjøvik Upper Secondary School Student Council Leader Josue Kongolo Ilunga says the students are now in a demanding period.

– Some students think it is uncomfortable to be at home. Not everyone works that well with homeschooling. Many people struggle with me to stay focused. In particular, challenging subjects like physics and math can be difficult to work with at home.

– It’s just a matter of keeping a cool head and following the infection control advice, so that everything goes well, he adds.

Must be homeschooled

Kopperud school principal Ragnhild Ulheim says that the reactions of students and parents are different, but that they all respond well to the messages they have received.

In the 11 schools that are affected by the quarantine, there will now be home enrollment from Thursday of this week inclusive.

– It is a form of teaching that we know well, says the director of Kopperud.

She is concerned that the school now takes care of both the students and the teachers who must be home in the future.

– We have taken steps to care for both the young and the old at school, says Ulheim.

Red level

The municipality has implemented various measures in hopes of reducing the growing infection. Among other things, a red tier has been introduced for kindergartens and schools, Sykehuset Innlandet has closed all departments in Gjøvik for visitors and the entrance gate is closed on all lines in the Hamar and Gjøvik region, which is by Vy Buss.

At NTNU Gjøvik, they have hired a security guard to ensure that students and staff adhere to infection control rules. Also, the Mama Africa hair salon in Hamar had to be closed, after a customer turned out to have covid-19. The client had been visiting friends in Gjøvik before going to the salon.

The origin of the infection in the first place is still uncertain. It is also not a priority for the municipality today.

– We are so busy now that we have not managed to start reeling from the first cases we had. We’re not sure we’ll find that either. It’s not necessarily that important to prevent new cases when we’re so far back in time, says Gjøvik municipal chief physician Siri Fuglem Berg.

Several new infections in Hedemarken

The local outbreak in Hamar and neighboring municipalities is also increasing in scope.

The municipality of Hamar has rented a flat in a hotel in the city center to be able to house coronary heart disease and special quarantine cases, reports Hamar Arbeiderblad.

The municipality now has a total of 40 rooms in the hotel, and as of now, nine people, who are in quarantine or in isolation, are in the hotel.