– It is suspected that a student at Steinerskolen in Bydel Vestre Aker is infected with omikron. Preliminary test results show “probable omicron” and all close contacts are therefore handled according to new regulations for infection with omicron with reinforced quarantine and isolation, Oslo Municipality writes in a press release.
There are around 470 students at the school.
– It is not known where the student was infected and the infection team and FHI work closely together to map this. Suspicion of omikron was revealed on December 4, the municipality writes.
Christmas market
The municipality has asked a large number of people to test themselves with PCR tests at a municipal test station and remain in quarantine until they have received a negative test result.
– Can not stop the Christmas table outbreak
– The student participated in a Christmas market at the school at the end of November, and everyone who has been to the Christmas market is encouraged to have a low threshold to test for symptoms, the municipality writes.
The general manager at the school, Petter Moen, tells Dagbladet that the school has a close dialogue with both the infection team of Oslo municipality and the district superintendent.
20 students in the class
– The school’s emergency preparedness team has had a meeting today and discussed how we should inform the parents. For the time being, we are very early in this process, says Moen.
Moen also says that the school has already informed the parents about the Christmas market last weekend.
– There are 20 students in the class of the infected student. These have been told to stay at home until they have taken a negative PCR test.
According to Moen, no decision has yet been made on whether the school will be closed. Nor is he surprised by the possible omicron case.
– When there is a new mutation, it is not unexpected that it spreads around in society. Oslo is also a place where there is a lot of infection during the day.
The Omikron variant appears to be far more contagious than the delta variant.
A large number of measures have been introduced to try to prevent the omicron from gaining a foothold.
Closes for two days
Around 8 pm, Moen says that the school has chosen to close for the next two days.
Wild infection: 183 omicron cases
– We do this simply for safety reasons. There are quite a few teachers who have been in and out of the class, and we do not have enough staff to carry out a proper teaching, says the general manager.
He also says that the employees at the school have had a Christmas table, where between 60 and 70 employees were present.
– All the measures have been done in collaboration with the district superintendent and the infection control team. We expect that everyone has received an answer to their tests by Tuesday night, but it also depends on the capacity of the test stations, says Moen.
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