Before the Easter holidays last year, he stayed insult as «Nazi mayor» because he without hesitation asked cabin people and day tourists to stay away from his municipality.
One year later, with an even more serious infection situation and escalating cottage interest, the same mayor welcomes everyone to the Easter mountains.
What has happened to Jon Rikard Kleven (Sp) in one of the country’s largest cottage municipalities Vinje?
Called the Nazi mayor
With almost 6,000 cabins and holiday homes, the municipality with 3,700 inhabitants is prepared to receive 25,000, perhaps 30,000 Easter guests from outside in Rauland and the other mountain areas.
– There are two decisive reasons plus some experiences that make us turn around, says the Vinje mayor now.
– Brain dead fool
In the beginning after the Easter denial last year, he received around a hundred phone calls and messages a day.
– Nazi mayor, brain dead fool, hope you do not survive the pandemic, the king of the mound. One also claimed that I was not worth the education. He had probably registered that I am a lawyer, the mayor told Dagbladet then.
It is now free of insults, two to three weeks before Easter and before the government comes with any national restrictions on freedom of movement. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Erna Solberg took into account that something like this could happen “in a few days” if people do not sharpen up and the explosive mutant infection goes down.
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Vaccine and equipment
These are the two crucial Easter differences from last year to this year in Vinje:
• All critical health personnel are vaccinated.
• Infection control equipment is in place for healthcare professionals, including full suits and visors in front of the face. And barracks to test for infection are separate from the rest of the health service, with good capacity.
Easter last year started on Palm Sunday 5 April, a week later than this year’s Easter.
– Then it was not possible to find near enough infection control equipment. The supplies from outside did not come until closer to the summer, says mayor Kleven one year later. And continues:
– And critical health personnel here were vaccinated in early January this year. If any of them had been infected by Easter last year, the health service in the entire municipality would have been cut off.
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With 2700 square meters of land area, Vinje in Vestfold and Telemark county municipality is the third largest municipality in southern Norway after Ullensvang in Vestland county and Rendalen in the hinterland.
The municipal management also has good experience with infection control measures in shops and ski resorts.
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Serious infection – from hospital
And cases of infection and heavy traffic among tourists and cabin people have not left any spread of infection locally, despite a summer and winter with larger visits than usual.
– Infection tracking and information to our health managers has worked well. Either those infected in the cabins have informed us directly, or their home municipalities have done so. People have behaved according to the book, says the mayor.
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Vinje municipality has only had one serious outbreak this pandemic year. A patient was discharged with infection from Telemark Hospital in December.
This led to about 20 people infected in a residential area in the hamlet of Edland. Four elderly residents died. The hospital has regretted that Vinje municipality was not notified early enough about doubts about the patient’s health.
Facts about Vinje municipality
• 3700 inhabitants – about 6,000 cabins and apartments with around 25,000 Easter tourists, Rauland’s largest cabin area.
• 3rd largest municipality in southern Norway after Ullensvang and Rendalen. 2700 square kilometers of land area – larger than the former Vestfold county (2,200 square kilometers.
• Vestfold and Telemark county municipalities. Until new county organization in 2020: only municipality in the country with borders to four counties: Hordaland, Buskerud, Aust-Agder, Rogaland.
• The name Vinje: meadow or settlement on pasture, from the Norse language.
• The municipal council, 25 members: Rapporteur Jon Rikard Kleven (Sp), Deputy Mayor: Tone Edland (Sp). Representatives: Sp 14, Ap 4, SV 3, H 2, Frp 1, KrF 1.
• Celebrities, living now, from Vinje: Odd Nordstoga, Ingebjørg Bratland, Sondre Bratland, Arve Moen Bergset, Astrid Versto, Terje Håkonsen.
• Celebrities, legends: Myllarguten (Tarjei Augundsson), Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Tarjei Vesaas.
Sources: Wikipedia / Store Norske Leksikon / Statistics Norway
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