Limit the number of guests on Christmas Eve – VG

Hol Township first introduced a local bandage order on Saturday.

On Sunday, the municipality announced further tightening after several new cases of infection this weekend. Hallingdølen was the first to report on the adjustment.

Among other things, it will not be allowed to have up to ten guests two days at Christmas, as the national authorities have opened. In Hol, the rule now is that you can only have five guests other than household members in private houses and cabins.

– Being a small municipality, we had 130 tests and nine of them tested positive in rapid tests this weekend. We still have no control over the original source of infection. The nine infected belong to four or five different workplaces, so there are a significant number in quarantine, Councilor Ole Johnny Stavn tells VG.

The hope is that the municipality will take control of the Christmas celebration.

All nine positives will also undergo a PCR test to ensure the quality of the rapid test result. The municipality will not have a cabin ban or special measures for cabin passengers beyond the rules that will apply to everyone in the municipality:

– The important thing now is that cabin guests follow infection control rules in stores and where they travel, Stavn continues. Stores must also have reinforced measures, among other things limiting the number of people who can enter and have porters in grocery stores, sports stores and at Europris.

Close schools and introduce previous bar stops

In addition to closing schools, the cinema, the library and the city hall will now be closed. All indoor activities stop. Kindergartens must maintain a red standard. Guests of health facilities must wear infection control equipment.

The spa areas and gyms of the hotels will be closed. The pools are for the exclusive use of hotel guests. There will be a bar stop at 10pm.

– We have had good contact with Visit Geilo, which is the commercial actor here, and Ski Geilo, which is the main actor in alpine skiing. They also take the necessary measures, says the councilor.

The graph below shows the infection in Hol Township from the start of the pandemic until now and shows how they were affected this spring. The figures may deviate a bit from the municipality’s own figures because VG obtains figures from the Infectious Disease Notification System, which is based on where people are registered and do not necessarily live. Additionally, there may be delays in registration:

Mayor of Hemsedal: – The situation may be different tomorrow

– Here things can happen with such short notice that the situation may be different tomorrow, so here we must be flexible to take the necessary measures, while we can remain open. The business community needs it, says Mayor Pål Rørby in the neighboring municipality of Hemsedal.

Crisis management in the municipality meets every day. So far, there is only one bandage order in addition to national regulations in the municipality. On the other hand, they were the first in Hallingdal with this setting.

– There are many visitors here now. We have already experienced a multiplication of our population. But I understand it well. There has been a lot of snow on the mountain and the conditions are good. We have expanded our services, routines, and guidelines to be able to handle large numbers of people. We depend on everyone to follow the guidelines now, both locally and nationally, and in restaurants and eateries, says Rørby.