[ad_1]
The Norwegian Football Association itself announced this in a press release on Friday morning. The news comes exactly one week after the team’s vice captain, Omar Elabdellaoui, tested positive, which had serious consequences for the national team:
First, Romania’s match was canceled when Norway received clear instructions from health authorities not to travel to Bucharest, then Norway organized an emergency national team that represented the nation in the 1-1 match against Austria on Wednesday.
Neither Henriksen, Lode, nor Berg were on a trip to Austria. They have stayed at the hotel in Oslo and have also not been training with the club teams in Trondheim or Bodø.
– Players who have tested positive have been in quarantine at the player’s hotel since the national team match ended on Saturday. They did not want to risk spreading the infection by going home, and they have followed infection control rules with the use of bandages and practiced social distancing. The players have not had contact with other people, says the national team doctor Ola Sand in the press release.
The Deputy Director of Health Espen Nakstad participates in the VGTV broadcast on Friday morning and reacts as follows to the live news:
– Let me first say that it is not a good situation for the infected, nor for the players, the team or the clubs where you usually play. It’s a risk. We see this in outbreak investigations in Norwegian municipalities. That if a person who has had close contact with others has been sick, there will be some cases of contagion in that circle of friends. It’s not particularly surprising, Nakstad says, and aims for the national team player Elabdellaoui to be diagnosed with a crown first.
– What do you think of the handling of the national team after the outbreak?
– I know the national team has been very good testing and monitoring these players. It is a very strict regime according to UEFA protocol and the routine we have in Norway. Let the players test regularly. That’s why this is captured here, says Nakstad.
– What do you think of high-level football in general after these cases? You also have the case of Rosenborg on Thursday, where they admitted to using players from team A in a tournament that was actually for team B?
– I think most people relate well to these rules and have good routines. I don’t have a detailed description of what exactly happens in soccer or other sports. It is followed by the municipal doctor or the municipality. At the Norwegian Health Directorate, we actually specify what the rules are, says Nakstad.
– Can there be restrictions on the best sports or soccer?
– All these guides or systems on sports activities in which an exception to the subway rule is obtained, are based on the infection situation in Norway, nationally and locally, and the situation in the world. That is why the rules are there. Sometimes things will need to be adjusted. This is based on the infection situation and overall infection risk. We don’t emphasize this type of individual incident, says Nakstad.
Patrick Berg, Marius Lode and Markus Henriksen now remain isolated.
– It’s sad that we understand this. We send two healthy players and one of them gets infected. The case is sad for Norway, who probably lost the opportunity to win the group in the Nations League, and now it has literally spread to club football. Now we hope that the boys do not get seriously ill. We hope they only have mild symptoms. Then we can take whatever comes from quarantines. The only thing that worries us is his state of health, Rosenborg manager Åge Hareide tells VG.
Rosenborg claims goalkeeper André Hansen delivered a negative test on Thursday night. Hareide isn’t sure how he will use the first goalkeeper in the future. Rosenborg are scheduled to play their next game against Brann on Tuesday.
– We don’t have a complete picture, but we don’t have it then, no, says Hareide.
– UEFA’s protocol takes into account the risk of infection, but the goal is to eliminate more infections internally and prevent infection in society at large. In our case, the total isolation of the infected player was the first step. This was probably contagious the same day the positive test was taken (Thursday 11/12). The rules for infection control have been followed, but it is most likely that one or more players have had enough contact with the player in question to become infected. All three players are virtually symptom free as of Friday night, Sand says in a press release.
VG updates the case!
