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MEETED HERE: The Bridge Club event was held in the Gilje event rooms in downtown Askim. Photo: Google streetview
When the police showed up at the bridge club in Askim, the participants were threatened with a report for violating infection control rules. Now the police have changed their minds, only the organizer is reported.
On Friday night, 26 members of a bridge club gathered in Gilje’s function rooms.
When the event came to a close at 01.00, three policemen lined up. They believed that the event was private and therefore illegal under the Communicable Diseases Act.
The operations manager in the eastern police district, Terje Marstad, told VG on Sunday that all the participants had been reported. The fine for this type of violation of the Infection Control Act is in the municipality of Indre Østfold of 20,000 crowns.
– The event appeared to be privately run. Based on the impression we had when we got there, infection control rules were not upheld, he said Sunday.
Not yet reported
Police attorney in the eastern police district, Linda Tengesdal, tells VG that the police on Monday have a slightly different opinion. Currently it is no longer relevant to review bridge players.
– We have started an investigation and the current status is that a case has been opened against the organizer. We must conduct interrogations and carry out several investigative steps, Tengesdal told VG on Monday.
– This weekend, the police declared that the participants had been reported. Is it no longer relevant?
– The police made a statement this weekend at a very early stage, and now we have a better overview of the course of events. None of the participants have received suspect status so far, he tells VG.
– What has caused the situation to change?
– The first statements by the police were based on the first reports to the police and our patrols, so it was based on the assessment made by the police. But the participants were never formally notified in writing, but we keep the case and the review in the organizer, he says.
– What is the reason why you create the review in the organizer and not in the participants?
– As the case stands now, there is a suspicion that the event has been carried out in violation of crown regulations. Basically, it is the organizer who is responsible, not necessarily the individual participant, says the police lawyer.
CLOSED: There have been several local outbreaks in Askim, and last week all elementary schools were closed. Photo: Odin Jæger, VG
Good news
The former conservative mayor of Askim, Hans Jakobsen, was one of the participants in the event. This weekend, he reacted strongly to the review.
– It is good news that the police did not report the participants. There were several older people here, and we don’t want to get a scratch on the paint from something we think is within the law, he says.
Jakobsen tells VG that the all-male club spent a lovely evening together. Until the police arrived.
– Three policemen appeared and we were surprised. Everything had been within the rules of the game, with liquor stands, a lot of distance and a lot of space, he says.
LIKES BRIDGE: – It is a very exciting and attractive game. Our Bridge collections are a mix of the social and the playful, Jakobsen tells VG. Photography: Mattis Sandblad, VG
– Do you take self-criticism that the event has taken place?
– Self-criticism is about whether this was legal or not. It was notified over several days and we had full approval. We are not a rowing club and we drink alcohol in moderation. We may have been a bit musical, but we have followed the rules.
– Will there be a new bridge meeting with the gang on Friday?
– No, it won’t. We should probably hope that there will be no game in the immediate future.
The infection situation continued to increase at Indre Østfold on Monday morning, according to VG’s corona summary.
AT THESE PREMISES: Friday’s meeting was held in a building that was previously used as a residence, but is now being expanded and used for both weddings and bridges. They can glimpse a dining room that seats 100 guests. Photo: Planning and Construction Agency, Indre Østfold
The assembly hall is run by the Askim Food company, which also organized the event on Friday. Askim’s CEO for food, Øystein Breivik, declined to comment further on the matter to VG on Monday.
Another former mayor, Thor Hals, was also present at the 93-year-old bridge club event. He is also part of the club’s board of directors.
– In hindsight, I think it was wrong to have this meeting. But we thought that as long as this was within the Infection Control Act, it would be fine, he tells VG.
CLUB MEMBER: Former right-wing mayor Thor Hals attended the meeting on Friday. Photo: File Photo: Trond Solberg, VG
I keep breaking the rules
Eastern Police District police attorney Linda Tengesdal notes that they still view the event as a violation of national infection control rules and that it was a private meeting. There are rules that it is not allowed to be more than 20 people together.
– It is too early to say if there will be a reaction from the police against the organizer. The same goes for the size of a possible fine, but fines in similar cases are 20,000 and up, he says.
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THE MUNICIPALITY APPROVED: The municipal chief doctor in Indre Østfold, Barbro Kvaal, says that she did not personally participate in the approval of the event, but that it was clarified with the municipality. Photo: Gabriel Aas Skålevik, VG
Approved
The municipal chief doctor in the Indre Østfold municipality, Barbro Kvaal, told the local newspaper Smaalenenes avis on Saturday that he would not be a “judge in this case”, but still knew that events like this could take place in Gilje as long as the infection control standards.
She tells VG on Monday that the case has not been high on the agenda as they have been busy with new outbreaks over the weekend.
Put this on? It is not a bridge club, but about 40 were infected after a party at the Gamla nightclub in Oslo.
