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SARPSBORG (Dagbladet): The area of Sarsborg and Fredrikstad has been affected by a large crown outbreak.
An event with 170 participants in the unapproved assembly hall of the Al-Ghadir Islamic Center of the Shiite religious community is seen as the starting point for the outbreak, and the Sarpsborg municipality is still considering whether to report the matter. But Mayor Sindre Martinsen-Evje (Labor Party) says the most important thing right now is dealing with the outbreak.
Considering new measures
– Our job now is to prioritize life and health, the mayor tells Dagbladet as he leaves an emergency meeting.
Will not close schools
At the time of writing, 2,500 people are in quarantine. Today at 5 in the afternoon, the municipality holds a press conference on the outbreak.
– The education association wants to close the municipal schools, why don’t you want to do that?
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– Because as of today we have an overview and some control over the outbreak. There is an infection in a given environment and the infection is not lost. This allows us to track the infection and understand the routes of transmission of those who test positive. Today we close a school. If it unfolds in such a way that we don’t have an overview, then we need to reconsider. Until now, we can handle this.
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Fear of stigma
As of September 6, 75 people associated with a local outbreak were registered as infected in the municipality of Sarpsborg. Furthermore, 137 were registered as infected in Fredrikstad. A total of seven schools in Sarpsborg are affected by the outbreak.
– There is talk of a frustration in the city that in the worst case can lead to a bit of polarization between groups, did you know?
– I am concerned that there is now a strong stigma of a religious minority. We must think that we will live together even after this, and we must think that no one wants to get sick or infected. There are many children who are also infected now, and they are our children and young people, whatever happens. We have to take care of each other.
– We don’t want to hurt anyone
He says that the municipality – and the inhabitants – must keep “the cold and the warm heart.”
– What happened in the buildings was not good, and the municipality must address that, but that said, we have had a good collaboration with the parish priest of the congregation. They are unhappy with what has happened, and I hope we avoid the stigma and neatness, which I have seen quite a bit of.
– Anyone can get infected, we can also see that in Bergen, where there are students. Everyone must remember that we are in a pandemic and everyone must take responsibility. But when outbreaks do occur, the solution is not to create fear or divide between them and us.
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In isolation
On Sunday, the head of the Shiite religious community spoke to Dagbladet for the first time.
– We want to live in peace and not disturb others. Just look at the photo of our new center. It is located in the middle of the forest, said director Sadiq Baker Alezairjawi (54).
The director himself is isolated with tested covid-19.
– I have not noticed anything about the disease before or now. That’s what is scary. Many of our members who have been diagnosed with the infection have not noticed anything. In this sense, we ourselves are victims. It must have come from somewhere
