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Tromsø is now facing a major outbreak after several students from the township’s upper secondary schools tested positive for corona. On Monday, more than 700 students were tested and quarantined.
On Tuesday, the municipality of Tromsø called for an urgent press conference regarding the fact that there has been an increase in infection in the municipality in several upper secondary schools.
Yesterday, more than 700 students from the school were tested.
– We see a dramatic development in the infection in Tromsø. We take steps by evaluating the school’s seven hundred students for overall control and insight. Now the results are coming in, and it turns out that it was the right move, Gunnar Wilhemsen (Labor Party), mayor of Tromsø, told the press conference.
– It turns out that there was an alarming number of positive tests and we are facing a very serious situation in the municipality.
Worrying: Tromsø Municipality Mayor Gunnar Wilhelmsen (Labor Party) describes the situation in Tromsø as dire. Photo: Ingun A. Mæhlum
Waiting for more positive test results
Kathrine Kristoffersen, municipal chief physician in Tromsø, says that testing of all students from upper secondary schools in Tromsø will take place as soon as possible.
Several of the test results of the 700 students who were tested yesterday were ready.
– 16 tested positive at Kongsbakken Upper Secondary and three at Tromsdalen Upper Secondary. We have chosen to quarantine all students from the two schools. In consultation with the National Institute of Public Health, we will consider implementing stricter measures, says Kristoffersen.
Several positive results are expected during the day. At 2:00 pm, the crisis personnel of the municipality meet. It will be considered whether further measures should be introduced locally to try to control the infection situation.
Kristoffersen says that work is now underway to get an overview of all contacts close to those infected.
– There are also ongoing reports of respiratory diseases around employees in schools and kindergartens, says the municipal chief.
CITY SUPERVISOR: Kathrine Kristoffersen says they are working to get an overview of close contacts. Photo: Rune Stoltz Bertinussen
Challenge with unknown sources of infection
Øyvind Benjaminsen, subject leader at the Corona Center in Tromsø, says it is challenging that some of the test results have an unknown source of infection.
– This is an extremely demanding situation for the infection monitoring team. We are now working systematically to reach everyone who tested positive. This will take time.
The municipal chief physician, Kristoffersen, notes that the infection is also in employees and other adults outside of school.
– An infection was detected in an employee of the Kvaløysletta nursing home, as well as an employee of the Selnes school and an employee of the Ersfjordbotn school.
Therefore, the infection is now being traced in the Selnes and Ersfjordbotn schools, as well as in the Kvaløysletta nursing home. All residents of the nursing home are tested today, and staff are tested during the day, Benjaminsen says.
– So far, 14 residents are in quarantine.
Announces new measures
On Tuesday, Tromsø Mayor Gunnar Wilhelmsen (Labor Party) announced new measures in the municipality. This includes orders to register guests at restaurants and requirements for a maximum of 10 people to visit their own home, according to Nordlys.
In addition, increased use of home offices and the use of face masks is recommended in public transport where it is not possible to stay one meter away.
Seven new cases were confirmed in the municipality on Tuesday. The municipality announces that several positive cases of corona have been confirmed in upper secondary schools in Tromsø.
– We must sharpen ourselves. As mayor, I take development seriously. The situation has worsened and the number of cases is higher now than in recent months, Wilhelmsen said at a news conference on Tuesday.
MASSIVE TESTING: Mayor Gunnar Wilhemsen of Tromsø estimates that there will be even more positive test results among the municipality’s upper secondary students. Today it was learned that 19 tested positive. The municipality tested more than 700 students on Tuesday. Photo: Ingun A. Mæhlum
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On Wednesday morning, the Stavanger Municipality also held a press conference on the status of the infection.
Here, the infection hasn’t hit as hard as in other big cities, but Mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun still comes with a prayer to the people.
– Infection tracers are experiencing extreme work pressure. There is no ability to verify infinite numbers of close contacts when a new case of infection occurs. Therefore, each of us should limit close contacts, Nordtun says.
The mayor also says that Stavanger will not introduce new local measures at the moment, but will not rule out that it will eventually happen.
– It may be relevant to propose the introduction of intervention measures as in large cities and it may happen next week.
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Trondheim: it will tighten up at the airport and public transport
Also in Trondheim, the municipality is now working to facilitate more measures as they can stop the spread of the virus already at the airport. Much of the infection recently discovered in Trondheim is an imported infection from the red countries.
– We must be more strict on the border, emphasized Mayor Rita Ottervik.
– We will introduce a bandage on the airport bus and greater monitoring for travelers from abroad, including those coming in transit from Oslo, continued the mayor.
Ottervik notes, among other things, that it will be important to ensure that national quarantine requirements are met for travelers from red countries, and that the information is available to those coming to the country who do not speak Norwegian.
Recent figures from Trondheim show that the municipality has 12 new people infected in the last 24 hours.
The municipality said during today’s press conference that it will wait to introduce new measures, until we know what the new national measures will be on Thursday.
Until then, the municipality recommends, among other things, wearing a mask if traveling by public transport during peak hours, as well as following national infection control regulations.
