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MANAGER: The head of the Harstad Police Station, Frank Magne Sletten, sent the police report to the Verftet nightclub in Tromsø, as several of his employees participated in the musical bingo. Photo: Tore Kristiansen
Several Harstad Police Station officials participated in the Christmas musical space bingo at the Verftet restaurant, where at least 18 are said to have been infected by the coronavirus.
Therefore, the station manager, Frank Magne Sletten, has decided that the initial investigation will be carried out at the Felles reception of criminal cases in Tromsø.
– This does not mean that we believe that our people have done something wrong, but we do not want there to be any doubt about the impartiality of the investigation, says the head of the Harstad Tidende police station.
The municipality of Harstad has reported the owner company behind the patio to the police for various violations of infection control legislation. The municipality has a strong suspicion that at least 18 people were infected during bingo night.
– The background of the report is a serious and comprehensive outbreak of covid-19 in Harstad and its surroundings, the municipality states in a press release.
A total of 57 people have been confirmed infected with COVID-19 and 312 people have been defined as close contacts as a result of infection at the event.
– Relatives like everyone else
Sletten won’t say how many from the police station were in attendance during the musical bingo on December 29. You also don’t want to criticize your people for being at the event.
– It was a legal event. Policemen are family members, like everyone else, and they are involved in what happens in their free time.
The head of the police station claims that none of the policemen was infected.
– However, they were quarantined until there was a negative test result. Once the sample has been analyzed, they have been in service.
BINGO: The Verftet nightclub is located in this building in Harstad. There must have been 76 people in the room during the space Christmas music bingo, sparking a huge outbreak in the city. Photo: Frank R. Roksøy / Harstad Tidende
– Have you said anything in hindsight if there was something you reacted to in infection control during bingo?
– For research reasons, I don’t want to answer this.
– 76 people in the room
– The municipality believes that there were 76 people in the room who were approved for 50. A microphone was passed to the participants and, given the invitation to the Christmas bingo space, are people encouraged to bring cash? What do you think about this?
– This is also information that will be part of the investigation and something that I cannot comment on, says Sletten.
He does not rule out the Harstad police taking over the investigation, but will do the initial work in Tromsø for now.
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– Why should the Berlevåg pub have the same rules as a Karl Johan pub?
The shipyard’s lawyer, Rune Stenstrøm, informs Harstad Tidende that the call to withdraw cash is related to the use of the tickets as prizes for the three best teams.
Stenstrøm notes that guests who use a legal event are not at fault.
– It’s sad that I lose focus and look for scapegoats. No one can be criticized for having participated in society, says the lawyer.
– Criminal negligence
The municipality of Harstad believes that the covid-19 regulation is based on three points: number of participants, distance requirements and activities in bingo.
– Based on the recent intensive monitoring of infections and the information that has emerged in the investigation case, we believe that the Infection Control Act was violated during the event and that it is a contributing factor to the extensive infection outbreak in retrospect, says City Manager Hugo Thode Hansen.
He believes that it is a special responsibility of restaurants to follow infection control measures to avoid any reinfection. The municipality does not believe that violations of infection control rules are intentional.
– However, there are several factors that strongly suggest that the organizer has shown criminal negligence during the implementation of the event, says City Attorney Kristian Fredheim.
In Kristiansand, 41 people have been registered as infected, after a musical bingo in a nightclub, writes Fædrelandsvennen.
