– Come at the worst possible time – VG

– This and next week we have almost no people to staff the test station and the emergency room at all. Staffing is at a minimum, which even without infection would still be too poor. We knew this, but could not get enough people exactly these weeks, says municipal doctor in Ørsta, Marte Vaage Øie.

– That we right now get something I think will be a massive outbreak, is of course very challenging.

The mayor of Volda calls the situation very serious.

– This is the most serious situation we have been in, as it looks now. The eruption came at the worst possible time, says Volda mayor Sølvi Dimmen.

Ørsta and Volda municipality are now experiencing an outbreak of infection with a total of 15 infected this week. On Wednesday, five new cases have been registered so far, he writes Ørsta municipality on its pages.

But municipal doctor Vaage Øie fears many more in the time ahead.

– I think there will be a lot of infected during the day and the next few days. It is important that there is not a new party weekend now, so the infection can spread as it did last weekend.

– All units in the same situation

It is the delta variant that is now ravaging the area, the Volda mayor states. The municipality writes that everything indicates that the infection has spread among young people in their early 20s. The infected are said to have been to several parties, and very many are said to have been infected at My kitchen in Volda on Saturday night.

– We have not had the capacity to call the close contacts, barely enough time to map the infected properly. We are also unable to get enough people to test large volumes. All units we contact for help are in the same situation with marginal staffing during the holidays, and many are in summer jobs in their 20s and quarantined, says Vaage Øie.

– We simply have to admit that we do not have the capacity to handle such a large outbreak in the middle of the joint holiday.

There is a very large demand for the corona telephone, electronic appointment booking and testing, writes Ørsta municipality. Today, a record long queue has been reported and people who have not been able to book an appointment electronically, probably due to the large number of people.

Considering asking for help from neighboring municipalities

The municipal doctor says they now prioritize testing, with the poor staffing.

– We must expand and staff the testing in the first instance. Then we are completely dependent on people following quarantine rules even if they have not been called.

– Normally we contact all close contacts, but now we will not be able to do it. We also probably do not have an overview of all close contacts since we do not get to talk to everyone, and since it is difficult to reach us. In this situation, it is extra important that everyone helps to avoid further infection and to load the capacity of the test station.

– Do you need help from neighboring municipalities?

– We are considering getting help from outside. But we understand that neighboring municipalities are struggling with something of the same in joint holidays as well. In addition, there is also some infection in the area around us.

The mayor of Volda says they follow the situation closely in the municipalities.

– We must have a dialogue on whether to deal with the situation, or whether to call people back or bring in partners. We have to look at that. We can not stand in a big outburst without getting people tested, says Dimmen.

– Shouldn’t you have done something with the staff when you saw it was too poorly equipped for the joint holiday weeks?

– There would have been no problem without the infection that now came. Society opens up, it’s summer and young people want to meet, it’s understandable. Although it is allowed to meet now, it does not necessarily make sense, so now we must limit the social.

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