The Directorate of Health is considering measures against home parties

Youth at party.Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB scanpix

Police had to go out in many parts of the country to stop parties on Saturday night. Now the Directorate of Health warns of possible consequences.

“We basically do not want a system in Norway where we have to resort to fines and other severe sanctions to get people to follow the established infection control rules. But in the dialogue with political authorities, we will closely monitor the situation in the future, especially regarding gatherings of large groups of young people,” warns Deputy Health Director Espen Nakstad to NTB.

A number of police districts have notified of many parties where young people gathered for Easter. This troubles Nakstad.

Serious talk
“The reports about private parties at Easter make it even more important that parents talk seriously to their children about following the rules for infection control in Norway,” says Nakstad.

“Even if young people might not become seriously ill from the coronavirus, they could cause others to become seriously ill. Therefore, young people must also take their share of responsibility, the same as everyone else in society,” he points out.

“We have seen several examples that home parties can cause a very large spread of infection if some of the participants are ill. Our clear call is: Keep a distance, no party,” he tells VG.

Stopped parties
Across the country, police had to spend huge resources to stop home parties on Saturday. Operations manager Jøran Solheim of the Southwest Police District informs NTB that they received 20 reports of partying and disturbance on Saturday night. While it was completely empty in downtown Stavanger, the police had to go out and stop parties with over 20 people present.

“We give advice and say that they have to take part in the infection prevention measures, and that they have to realize the seriousness,” says Solheim, who also says that the police have had to wear full infection control equipment in some cases.

Believe it’s over
Trøndelag police district reports on Twitter that they received 18 reports of party noise and breaches of infection control rules on Saturday night, but that they have not had the capacity to respond to all the messages. The police in Nordland also had to stop parties.

“It seems that people believe this is over, and you can just do what you want. It isn’t in any way,” says operations manager Remi Johansen to VG.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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