The municipality announces the organizers of the holiday in Sarpsborg – NRK Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio

According to the municipality of Sarpsborg, there must have been 170 people in the celebration of the Assyrian holiday.

– We believe that the infection has occurred during these events and that it has led to the large local outbreak that we are experiencing now. We believe there are reasons to suspect a violation of the general infection control rules, says Sarpsborg Mayor Sindre Martinsen-Evje.

This afternoon, the crisis management in the municipality chose to report the organizers to the police.

At least one person who participated in the events must have been infected with the coronavirus. According to the municipalities, the big wave of infections in Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad must have started here.

– It is also a fact that the facilities in Oldtidsveien in Skjeberg where the Christmas celebration took place are not legal meeting rooms, says Martinsen-Evje.

The religious community has recently established itself in Skjeberg and is said to have started rebuilding the assembly hall without asking permission from the municipality. The municipality became aware of this for the first time on July 30 of this year.

– The municipality issued an order to halt the construction works in progress. On August 5, the municipality received a request for a change of use, but the request was deficient and therefore is still being processed.

At the end of August, the municipality was informed that the building was still in use.

2,500 quarantined

Almost 2,500 people are now under quarantine in the two towns of Østfold. More than 200 people have been diagnosed with the infection since last Tuesday.

The outbreak has affected schools, kindergartens and health institutions. Grålum ungdomsskole in Sarpsborg is closed. The reason is so many teachers are quarantined that students must be homeschooled.

Health director Bjørn Guldvog said on Saturday that he is concerned about the outbreak.

According to the municipality, the organizers have explained that the event began on August 21 and lasted every day until August 30. The celebration was supposed to continue for another three days, but was stopped when the first cases of infection were discovered.

– According to the director, there were generally between 60 and 70 men and between 50 and 60 women who participated every day. At the big holiday on Sunday, August 30, there were reportedly 170 people present, says Martinsen-Evje.

According to the organizers, the women and men must have been separated in their respective buildings.

Stopped the celebration

The head of the Muslim faith community, Sadiq Baker Alezairjawi, tells NRK that he feels confident that they have done nothing wrong.

– We have not broken the rules of infection. We have always had infection control in mind. We put up antibac and asked all participants to take the rules seriously. We asked people not to shake hands and sick people were told not to come, says Alezairjawi.

He says he is very sorry and apologizes for the situation in which the municipality has ended.

– We have caused great harm to society and we are working hard to stop the spread of the infection, says Alezairjawi.

One of the participants in the celebration had previously told NRK that it seemed that people were not taking infection control seriously.

– It was kissing, caressing and squeezing, and there were many who were very close. Not many people exactly cared about infection control. Although I saw some antibac in some places, there were not many, she said.

Despite the fact that the municipality is now denouncing the religious community, the mayor assures that they have a good collaboration on the contagion trail after the outbreak.

Martinsen-Evje is reacting to a growing incitement against the Muslim community in recent days.

– It is completely unacceptable. We are all Sarpsborgians and it is now that we must unite.