– We can’t say we are in control – VG

– It’s almost a bit creepy here, says the receptionist at the Lyngdal city hall, where she sits alone and shows us the way to Mayor Jan Kristensen.

It’s pouring rain outside, but that’s not the only reason the heather dolmen stay indoors this Monday without sunlight.

A large corona eruption has affected the municipality. 37 infected were confirmed this weekend and a total of 42 were confirmed positive. The outbreak started in a Romanian congregation in the village, which has rented a premises in Bethany.

The outbreak has also affected neighboring municipalities and the most affected is Lindesnes. Mayor Even Tronstad Sagebakken (Labor Party) stated on Monday night that 34 are infected by corona, 33 of them live in the municipality. He estimates that between 5 and 600 people are in quarantine.

Mayor Jan Kristensen in Lyngdal sighs inside the office.

– No, we can’t say we’re in control. The results of the main tests have yet to come. 680 students were tested yesterday. It is currently concentrated around the congregation, but we don’t yet know to what extent, he says Monday morning.

Late Monday night, he claims that another boy from the school, who did not attend the meeting in Bethany, tested positive. At the same time, the municipality approved a ban on organizing or attending private meetings with more than five people present. This is valid for one week. It is also illegal to hold, organize, attend, and rent organized gatherings outside the home.

– Has there been a violation of infection control rules?

– We dare not say that yet, we are not trying to blame anyone. There may have been language problems that made it difficult to adjust, he says.

The schools closed on Monday, but that same day the crisis management in the municipality decided that it should not continue. Schools and kindergartens will not be closed in accordance with the Infection Control Act.

Lyngdal Municipality has previously stated that they have a difficult infection detection job as a result of language barriers and that the environment appears to be closed. Now they have faced more challenges.

– Here come Romanians who say they have been to the meetings, which are not on the lists that we have received, so there are some challenges in terms of mapping, says municipal doctor Henriette Pettersen to VG.

The spokeswoman Vasile Bejinariu for the congregation in question believes that these are misunderstandings.

– They weren’t at the meeting, but that’s what was recorded. They weren’t at the meeting, but they are close contacts, he says.

In addition to permanent Romanians from Lyngdal and neighboring municipalities, he has been visiting seasonal workers, who also attended the meetings in Bethany.

– They arrived in October and had come out of quarantine before arriving at the meeting, says Bejinariu.

– How do you make sure of that?

– I know most of them, and the municipal doctor has been given an arrival date for all who do not live in the town.

Now he helps the municipality as an interpreter in the work of infection detection. He himself is infected with corona and remains isolated in the office.

– Yes, I have to stay here for ten days, my children have tested negative, so I have to stay here, he says.

At Bethany’s closed rectory, Runar Foss Sjåstad comes walking with his son Fredrik at seven, both in the rain.

– Today we have school at home, but we also have to do some exercise, he says with a smile.

– There was a suspicion of infection in Fredrik’s class, so we have to stay home.

He works as a regular priest in Farsund and Lista and says he has also had to cancel a baptism.

– How do Christians take it?

– I hope they get along well, he says and continues the journey in the rain.