Will introduce more measures – VG

On Monday, the Oslo City Council introduced various infection control measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

That same night, Health Minister Bent Høie summoned Oslo and the surrounding municipalities for a digital meeting on the level of the measures.

The Health Minister called on the 19 municipalities in the Oslo housing and labor market region to use the capital’s new measures as a basis and coordinate various measures.

So far, VG has received responses from mayors in 15 of the 19 municipalities. At least ten of them are clear that requiring a bandage in public transport is the most relevant measure.

Several are also considering restrictions on the number of participants in events, and at least one municipality is considering discouraging travel to Oslo.

• Collective nozzle: The municipalities are considering orders or recommendations for use.
• Event restriction: The private and the public merge. Some municipalities consider only one, some consider both.

Considering discouraging travel

– It will seem silly if one of the townships in Follo introduces a bandage, but not all, Vestby Mayor Tom Ander Ludvigsen tells VG.

He will meet with the rest of the Follo municipalities this morning to discuss the measures they can agree on. Several municipalities in the capital are now telling VG that they will coordinate with neighboring municipalities on the measures to be introduced.

Ludvigsen says he has personally advised residents not to take unnecessary trips to Oslo.

– I still do it. Travel unnecessarily to Oslo, I do not consider it very smart. If we agree to come out with a formal deterrence, we’ll see about it after we meet today, says the mayor.

In the municipality of Lunner, they are now considering dissuading or “not recommending” their residents to travel to Oslo if it is not strictly necessary.

– We are working with evaluations now and will coordinate with the municipality of Gran. We have a common test station and infection detection kit, Mayor Harald Tyrdal tells VG.

Decisions will be made at a crisis management meeting this afternoon.

It will prevent events from moving out of Oslo

Of particular relevance among the measures Oslo has introduced is an order to bandage and reduce participants in indoor events without fixed seats from 200 to 50 people.

An event restriction is also being considered in the municipality of Gran, among others, because it was held in Oslo.

– It may be wise not to move events outside of Oslo, says Mayor Randi Eek Thorsen to VG.

Nesodden, Lilletrøm, Rælingen, Lunner, Gjerdrum and Gran are among those who say they consider restrictions on events, as Oslo has done.

The mayor of Lørenskog, Raghild Bergheim, will not go into the measures that the municipality is considering now, but he also highlights the problem:

– If stricter restrictions are introduced in Oslo, people may quickly show up to our region with social events, such as weddings and parties. The problem if it just closed in Oslo is that the problems can quickly spread to neighboring municipalities. So we have to coordinate, she says.

In Nesodden, Truls Wickholm says they will support a regulation on bandages on public transport, that there should be no more than 50 people inside when there are no fixed seats, and that restaurants should be encouraged to keep an overview of who they are. present.
Preventing events from moving out of Oslo is one of the things that have been included in the evaluation, he writes in an SMS.

– It was important for us to highlight that we support the measures that Oslo has introduced and that we follow the call of the Minister of Health for the Oslo measures to be considered. In itself it is also a good measure that provides a good opportunity to maintain distance and overview of events.

Lier Mayor: – See the need to coordinate

The municipality of Hole has already decided to recommend the use of bandages in public transport, says Syver Leivestad, but until now there will be no court order. Restaurants should also register their guests to facilitate infection detection.

Because Hole is on the regional council with Jevnaker and Ringerike, the measures will also be discussed with them, although they were not invited to the meeting with the minister on Monday.

The mayor of Bærum, Lisbeth Hammer Krog, is very clear that it is important to coordinate measures for the municipalities around Oslo.

– Personally, I take the use of masks as a routine. Ministry of the Interior, I have already praised the business community, because it has been the rule, also in the public sector, he tells VG.

A limit of 50 people for events where there is no permanent seat is also natural to argue between the measures that Oslo has now introduced, he says.

The municipality of Lier takes the initiative to coordinate measures together with the municipalities around Tuesday. This applies to Asker, Bærum and Drammen, Mayor Gunn Cecilie Ringdal told VG.

– We have a public transport that goes from Drammen to Oslo. In that area, we see the greatest need for coordination, with a view to a requirement for bandages in public transportation. We’ll probably take some action today and continue the assessment tomorrow, he tells VG.

She says they also see a need to limit the number of people who can meet privately on a recommendation.

– But the rules for cultural institutions and restaurants are not so relevant to us. There we differ from Oslo, he says.

Rælingen: Blinds and restriction in relevant social gatherings

The municipalities of the Nedre Romerike municipalities will also meet on Tuesday morning.

– I do not want to reject any of the measures at this time. Most relevant is another bandage order in public transport and limiting the number of events and meetings, says Rælingen Mayor Ståle Grøtte.

He says that the infection in the municipality is low, but that they want to help Oslo take control of the situation.

Gjerdrum Mayor Anders Østensen says both bandages and event restrictions are measures that are now being considered there.

– There must be a coherent chain of measures, so that problems are not pushed further, he says.