– Very serious – VG

Another six residents have been confirmed infected at the nursing home Villa Skaar Valstad in Eidsvoll municipality. This means that 19 out of 23 residents are infected, confirms municipal chief physician Carl Magnus Jensen to VG on Tuesday night.

The residents who are infected have an average age of 78 years.

– I take it very seriously. So I hope there continue to be few symptoms, but we must prepare for the fact that the symptom picture may worsen in many of the residents who have been diagnosed with the disease, unfortunately, he says.

There are also 12 employees who are infected.

One of the infected residents died Monday, the first corona death in the municipality.

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The first cases of infection at Villa Skaar were revealed on Tuesday 3 November. Three employees were then infected. On the same day, they tested all residents and employees. Of these 70, 17 tested positive. Since then, several positive test results have come in. A total of 31 people are infected at the nursing home.

Demanding situation

– It is very sad and heavy for both the residents and their relatives and the employees who are in a work situation with infected employees and heavy tasks at work, with fewer employees than usual.

– Could it be a more contagious variant?

– It is not impossible, and are things we must investigate, says the doctor, who is now in dialogue with FHI.

Relationship with an outbreak at another nursing home

Two cases of infection have also been identified at the municipal nursing home Vilberg helsetun, which is connected to the outbreak at Villa Skaar because an employee has worked in both places.

The infected at Vilberg have moved to a separate infection post at the nursing home. All residents and employees of the affected ward are tested every three days.

– If more people test positive, they will also be moved to the infection post, Jensen says.

Eidsvoll municipality now has a rising infection trend, according to VG’s overview. The municipal chief states that the municipality has 54 cases of infection as of 1 November. This number is higher than VG’s numbers because 13 of them tested positive at Gardermoen, ie Ullensaker municipality. Therefore, they are not currently in VG’s overview.

Wednesday shall the municipal council have an extraordinary meeting to deal with local regulations on temporary measures to prevent the spread of covid-19 in Eidsvoll.

Jensen emphasizes that this is independent of the outbreak at the nursing home, but comes at the request of Minister of Health Bent Høie that all municipalities with increased infection pressure should now consider local measures.