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This article is over a month old and may contain outdated advice from authorities on coronary heart disease.
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From night to Saturday, the border with several Swedish regions will be reopened.
At today’s press conference, Justice Minister Monica Mæland said that they are encouraging Norwegians to leave Swedish trade this weekend.
– For those of you who are thinking of crossing the border to buy. Therefore, we recommend avoiding traveling abroad that is not strictly necessary. This also applies to trips across the border for shopping, says Justice Minister Monica Mæland.
And health workers in the inland Sør-Odal municipality are also likely to think carefully before embarking on a journey across the border.
A trip to Sweden gives quarantine without pay
In May, Sør-Odal was one of the worst affected municipalities in the country. The municipality with around 8000 inhabitants then had 3.8 registered infected per 1000 inhabitants.
On Thursday, the municipality sent a message to its employees, in which they made it clear that they must complete a covid-19 test before they can work. Employees are also not paid on the days they wait for the test response.
Here is the message the employees received. Can’t be misunderstood:
03.09.2020
SK
Municipality of Sør-Odal:Rådmann reports that the municipality will follow FHI’s recommendations that employees with patient-related jobs who have been traveling to Sweden should undergo a covid-19 test, with a negative test confirmed before resuming work. Any quarantine pending the test results will be a leave without pay. The councilor also asks employees to limit unnecessary travel to other municipalities with large outbreaks.
Had a major outbreak this spring
City manager Frank Hauge says they are doing it primarily to avoid a situation similar to the one they faced this spring.
– None of us want us to go back to a similar situation, Hauge tells NRK.
BEFORE WAS: Sør-Odal municipal director Frank Hauge explains the move saying they want to avoid a situation they had this spring.
Photo: Ann-Kristin Mo / NRK
The municipal director says that many employees cannot be allowed to be out of quarantine until it goes beyond the services of the municipality.
– The infection situation we experienced this spring showed us that we will not have many employees in quarantine until there is a labor shortage and we have challenges in providing the services that we are supposed to. So we have chosen to point out that it will have a consequence if you still choose to travel to Sweden for, say, shopping, he says.
It considers that strict measures are absolutely necessary to ensure that the services in the health service in the municipality are not weakened.
– Then we have pointed out that the consequences of traveling are that you must be quarantined without payment during those days while you wait for the test result.
Believe that the municipality is not violating the regulations
The union informs NRK that it has no problem with the municipality implementing deductions from wages if an employee travels to Sweden. But the measure must have first been discussed with local shop stewards.
– I think that it is mainly a question of the municipality taking the necessary measures to reduce the risk of infection. As I understand it, the municipality has taken over the obligation to inform employees by sending SMS, says Martine Maarud Eriksen, chief union delegate of the Sør-Odal Union.
The Ministry of Health and Care Services will also not interfere in the way the municipality practices this.
In an email to NRK, the ministry writes: “This is an individual employer-employee relationship that the Ministry of Health and Care Services cannot establish. The ministry encourages everyone to follow general travel advice and avoid trips that are not strictly necessary. “
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