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The Hyllestad municipality has decided that New Havyard Ship Technology should be kept closed until October 10 after several new corona cases at the Leirvik shipyard.
CORONA FRAME: Here’s the New Havyard Ship Technology shipyard in Leirvik.
Hallgeir Vågenes / VG
Published:,
“We have six ships that we are building, but now we cannot work,” Gunnar Larsen, CEO of Havyard Group, tells E24.
17 people associated with the yard with 460 employees have been diagnosed with Covid-19, the company claims on Friday, an increase of 13 people since the outbreak was discovered on Wednesday.
To prevent further spread and take control of the situation, the Hyllestad Municipality, based on the Infection Control Act, decided on Friday to keep the business closed until October 10, 2020.
200 proven shipyard employees
– The consequence is that progress stops in the projects we have commissioned, says Larsen.
Infection control doctor Anette Ester told the local newspaper Firda that “all infection tracking takes us back to the yard.”
The Corona outbreak in the courtyard alone has led to Hyllestad in Sogn, which has a total of just over 1,300 inhabitants, probably having one of Norway’s highest infection pressures at the moment, according to NRK, which first mentioned the new decision of the municipality.
According to the state channel, at least 19 are infected with corona in the yard, but Havyard’s CEO tells E24 that he can only confirm 17.
The number is based on preliminary testing, which the company says has about 200 shipyard employees.
Can be kept closed longer
It was on September 30 that the crown bud was first known. Four people were confirmed to be infected and the shipyard decided to temporarily halt the activity. According to BT, it was foreign workers who brought the infection.
Following this closure, the shipyard has “worked closely with local health authorities to clarify the extent of the spread of the infection,” the company said in a listing on the stock exchange on Friday.
The municipality has announced that the decision to close until October 10 could be extended. Larsen emphasizes that they have full cooperation with both the municipality and the health authorities.
– We do what they tell us, he says.
