Amalie does sports dance, and is a six-time youth Norwegian champion. She dances in Estonia, and lives there most of the time. Now the country is in lockdown, and therefore Amalie went home fourteen days ago. She was mildly surprised by the entrance check at the airport.
– I came with a full plane from Stockholm. Only me and five other people went to take a test. The rest went straight out of Gardermoen. No one stood and said they should take a test, no one supervised, says Amalie.
– DANCER: Amalie Aune is a six-time youth Norwegian champion in sports dance and lives in Estonia. Photo: Private
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Father Per Christian Aune picked up his daughter at the airport when she arrived in Norway. Amalie immediately told her father about what she had experienced after arriving at Gardermoen.
– She is very careful to follow the rules, and got a chin drop from what happened, says Aune.
– When I came to Gardermoen I had a negative test. In addition, I tested myself there. The rest of the passengers disappeared on duty free and on straight out, says Amalie.
Amalie saw no guards watching, or physical barriers. She also reacts to the fact that one of the passengers, who had an old test with him, was only told that the next time the test had to be in order.
– We have control
In an e-mail to TV 2, the Eastern Police District writes that those who did not test themselves may be passengers who have an exemption from the test obligation. The police cannot trace any exceptions back to a particular flight, such as the plane that Amalie came with.
– All passengers must go through the passport control, which assesses each individual passenger whether they are covered by exceptions, must be quarantined, or must be tested, according to the Eastern police district.
This week, the government has tightened the requirements for quarantine.
On Thursday, Chief of Police Ida Melbo Øystese in the Eastern Police District was interviewed on TV 2 Nyhetskanalen about the entry control at Gardermoen.
– We have a regime that makes us try to have our regulations as unobtrusive as possible. We work with our routines all the time and improve them, but we want the police’s visibility and presence to be as limited as possible, says Øystese.
HAS CONTROL: Police Chief in the Eastern Police District Ida Melbo Øystese says the police are deliberately low on Gardermoen, but she believes they have control over entry and coronation testing. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB
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She assures that the police have control of Gardermoen.
– We have control at the airport and those who are to be tested are tested, and they are not allowed to leave the airport until it has been done. Then we have some measures that are visible, and then there are some measures that are not quite as visible, says Øystese.
Not everyone has to test themselves
The Norwegian border is in principle closed, but Norwegian citizens can enter Norway. As a general rule, only foreigners residing in Norway can enter the country, with some exceptions.
Norwegians do not have to show a negative corona test at the border, but must test themselves on arrival. Foreigners must show a test taken a maximum of 24 hours before departure, plus test at the airport or border crossing. However, there are some who do not need to test themselves.
Among others:
Those who can document that they have had covid-19 in the last six months.
Air and train personnel, and long-distance transport drivers
People with socially critical jobs
Diplomats Children under 12
Some commuters from Sweden and Finland
Calls for better control
– You are not reassured to hear about these experiences, even though the police may have better control than you get the impression of, says parliamentary representative Jon Helgheim from the Progress Party.
He points out that there have been a number of stories of poor entry control and is left with the feeling that the handling of the regulations has been lax.
NOT ASSURED: The Progress Party’s Jon Helgheim is left with the impression that the regulations for entry control have been laxly handled. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
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Parliamentary representative Tuva Moflag from the Labor Party also believes that the entry control at Gardermoen appears random.
– I think it seems as if there is not as good control as it has been communicated. We have been calling for this all the way, since the country reopened for foreign travel last summer, says Moflag.
NOT SATISFIED: Tuva Moflag (Labor Party) believes that entry control is worse than communicated. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB
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She also points out that people are allowed to leave Gardermoen before the result of the test is ready. Last week, it became known that a person, who tested positive for the Brazilian mutated virus, received the answer while sitting on public transport on the way home.
Provokes
Figures obtained by TV2 from Avinor show that 3,1097 people arrived via Oslo Airport from abroad from 1 February to 14 March. 28,373 tests were performed at Gardermoen during this period. According to the Eastern Police District, good routines have been established for checking and locking passengers who are to be tested and who are to be quarantined in hotels. The police have carried out measurements which show that there are more people who test themselves than those who have to.
Father Per Christian and daughter Amalie Aune are frustrated that so many did not test themselves, as Amalie experienced. She did not get the impression that the passengers who were not tested, for example, were health personnel.
– This is provocative when they shut down the whole country, says Per Christian Aune.
He believes it is not at all true that entry control is strict.
– I was completely shocked, because there was no control. They say they have strict entry rules. A little strange that they close schools and everything in Oslo, and then they do not have as strict rules as they should, says Amalie.
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