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– Many have felt a bit intimidated, says Zanna Kummel Ohlsson to Dagbladet.
The 36-year-old is a nursing assistant at Østfold Kalnes Hospital, where she holds a 75 percent position as a healthcare professional.
An average of three to four days a week, he gets in the car and drives the road for 30 minutes from his hometown of Strömstad in Sweden to get to work. Several other Swedish colleagues from the same hospital do the same.
But while Norwegian colleagues can go to town on weekends, Kummel Ohlsson and his Swedish colleagues who commute to work are also asked to follow Norwegian rules in their free time in Sweden.
– Risks of worsening
It has given an almost continuous quarantine since March.
Strömstads Tidning and Expressen have already mentioned the case.
– Big load
– You really can’t have a social life, says Ohlsson, who in addition to his job in Norway works some extra shifts at home in Strömstad.
She is allowed to do that.
– Although my colleagues from Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg can go out to the city on weekends and meet people from Oslo, I have to sit at home.
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In regulations on infection control measures, etc. in the crown outbreak, § 6, it is established that people who are exempt from the quarantine obligation should, as far as possible, avoid close contact with other people with whom they do not live.
According to VG, 140 permanent employees at Østfold Kalne Hospital are commuters from Sweden, the majority from Strömstad. In addition, the hospital has about 40 Swedish temporary workers. These workers are also quarantined in their spare time when they are in Norway.
In September, the government tightened up health personnel who work in Norway and live in countries and red areas. For day travelers like Ohlsson, this means you have to take a coronation test every seven days.
– It’s a big burden to get tested all the time, he tells Dagbladet.
Criticized Tegnell – escaped from Sweden
– Now the rules have changed, so it is argued that commuters are put to the throat test. Before, we also had to get a nose test. It is not easy to follow the rules as it feels like they change every other day. But this is exactly the change I’m very happy about.
– Discriminatory
If Ohlsson has been absent for more than ten days, he must also run a negative corona test before he can begin work.
It must be taken in Norway and the result must be ready before the first business day. Then you have to have another test after a few days.
Regardless of the results of these, you should wear a mask at work for the first ten days.
These tests are in addition to the regular weekly ones.
– I feel that the regulations are quite discriminatory, that they treat us as if we were the ones who came with all the infection. But we are actually a workforce, says the Swedish health professional to Dagbladet.
Strömstad Municipality has about 13,000 inhabitants. As Ohlsson himself says: “When Norwegians can’t come, there aren’t that many of us.”
According to figures from the Swedish Public Health Agency, Strömstad now has an infection rate of 30 infected per 100,000 inhabitants. Last week, the number was 20, with two positive cases of infection.
– It is not an order
Deputy Health Director Espen Nakstad tells Dagbladet that Norwegian law only applies in Norway and therefore Zanna and others in her situation cannot be imposed such a quarantine on purely legal terms.
– This regulation is a recommendation and not a prohibition. From a legal point of view, the employer may recommend that you follow these rules, but you cannot be ordered to do as you organize life at home in Sweden.
– Given the number of infections in Strömstad. Is this a proportionate restriction for all workers to whom it applies?
– There are many paradoxes in the regulation of covid-19. Keep in mind that this should apply for a longer period of time, which means that something may happen to hit bias for some groups in certain periods. It is also important to remember that we have had many import infections. Although the infection pressure varies in Sweden, the country as a whole has an infection pressure almost five times higher than we have in Norway now, says Nakstad, continuing:
That said, the covid-19 regulation is under review. We don’t want this to be an obstacle to people’s privacy. Now we are making new changes, just like the EU. But exactly the work on what changes will be made is not complete.
– Not a beautiful sight
Not all patient groups Ohlsson works with. For two years she has been employed in one of the wards of the infection room, which since March has been the covid-19 cohort in Kalnes.
Every day, an infection control team has been put on to have close contact with coronary heart disease patients.
For her part, she experiences that she becomes extremely careful when it comes to exposing herself to infection when you have the disease as close to everyday life as she is.
– The party is over now
– I’ve seen it up close, and there is a beautiful sight with those who are really bad. In this way, perhaps one is even more careful about distance and infection control. For example, we never drive a full car to Norway, and I feel like I quickly get upset when infection control advice is not followed.
– Understand if people are not upset
When asked if she understands that Norway has set such strict rules for workers as it does for herself, Ohlsson responds as follows:
– In a way, I have some understanding. But it kinda disappears when I feel like the rules are largely not being followed. In my opinion, the Swedes are better at keeping their distance, at least at home in Strömstad. In Norway, I experience that you, for example, follow the distance rules at work, but as soon as you finish there, you get closer.
– How has it been for you as a Swedish health professional in Norway during the pandemic?
– In my department everyone is kind and friendly, so there has been no problem. But I have joked myself that they have to fire me when the challenges pile up.
Despite the lack of social life, the 36-year-old does not intend to switch jobs in Norway in favor of a permanent job within his own national borders.
– I love my job, so I don’t want to quit for this reason. If you have good co-workers, you can do it. But where the work environment is difficult, I understand if you don’t bother anymore. Because no one knows how long this will last.
