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This article is over a month old and may contain outdated advice from authorities on coronary heart disease.
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On Monday, the Havyard shipyard in Leirvik reopened its doors. For two and a half weeks, activity has come to a complete halt at the core company with nearly 500 jobs.
– It’s the best thing that could have happened to us. We are completely dependent on this company, says Mayor Kjell Eide.
Almost one in five is infected
It was at the end of September that the small municipality of 1,400 inhabitants turned blood red. 91 of the 495 employees at the core company were diagnosed with coronary heart disease within a couple of weeks.
Monday was the day to open that, well enough with reduced staff.
– It’s good to see people again after so many days without activity. Employees are excited to be back at work and hope they have more to do than sit at home, says yard manager Erlend Hatleberg.
SINGLE ACTIVITY: There are almost 500 jobs in the yard. For a time, the only activity in the yard was infection testing (file photo).
Photo: Steinar Lote / NRK
Blood tester negative
– When the number of infections only increased and increased, we were very concerned about how this would develop, says the boss.
He says they have learned a lot from the outbreak and have now agreed with the municipality to introduce stricter infection control rules. This applies both in terms of isolation and quarantine, but also when it comes to testing the many foreign workers working at the shipyard.
– NOW WE ARE BETTER FACILITATED: Shipyard manager Erlend Hatleberg believes that they are better equipped now, if there is a new wave of infections in the small municipality.
Photo: Oddmund Haugen / NRK
– Now we demand two negative tests, before they can start working with us, says Hatleberg.
– We must be warned that there may be new cases of contagion in the municipality, also here in the courtyard. But now we are better equipped to handle this than before. We’ve gotten a lot better at detecting infections and handling close contacts.
Call for more stringent requirements from the government
– I was sure that I too would be one of the infected. I sympathize with all those who were infected and have been isolated. You have some time left when you are quarantined, so I have tried to call Vera to keep in touch with them, says Eirik Mjømen, who returned to work in the yard today.
Delighted to be back: Eirik Mjømen is one of the workers who can take over shipbuilding at the shipyard.
Photo: Oddmund Haugen / NRK
One of the big talking points in recent weeks has been how the infection has spread.
– Many questions have been asked, and we have wondered a lot about how it has been transmitted from person to person, and what causes some people to get infected and others not. But there are a lot of people here, and it’s not always easy to keep your distance, says Mjømen.
– I hope that the government and the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) will present new requirements on how the quarantine period should be for people who come from red countries, he continued.
– What should be more strict?
– Yes.
Delay deliveries
The Hatleberg shipyard manager says the closure will have consequences, but his customers have gotten the message in a pleasant way.
– Naturally, they are concerned about delivery times, but they understand that we must do this in the right way, so that we do not have a new closure, says Hatleberg.
