The corona situation in Gällivare is out of control. The infection protection physician Anders Nystedt believes that it is possible to trace a repair stop in the mine.
Three miners lie with a respirator, he says at the Norrbotten region’s press conference.
Twelve new cases have been reported in Sweden – a total of 5053 in the country.
Several of the residents in Gällivare are worried about the latest developments
During Thursday, 12 new deaths were reported in Sweden. A total of 5,053 people have died of corona.
Now the virus is spreading uncontrollably in Gällivare municipality in Norrbotten County and the municipality is closing down all municipal activities, such as sports halls, swimming halls and the library to deal with the infection.
“The situation is not good right now,” Henrik Ölvebo (MP), chairman of the municipal council, told Expressen yesterday.
The criticism of LKAB
At the Norrbotten region press conference on Thursday, the corona virus spread throughout the county was discussed. The infection protection physician Anders Nystedt told me that the infection had been going down but that it increased again after one after a repair stop in the mine in Gällivare. More miners became ill in covid-19 and according to Anders Nystedt, three are treated with a respirator as late as Wednesday.
– It was very ordinary staff and there was a lot of hired staff, I’m not saying who was the first. There were restrictions, but they were not obeyed, according to the testimonies I received, but it was quite a lot of “hay” and a pat on the back and says this is not so dangerous, he says at the press conference.
LKAB’s Press Manager Fredrik Björkenwall tells Expressen TV that they do not agree with the infection control doctor that their staff should not have taken the situation seriously.
We do not share that view and I do not think many of my colleagues do. Obviously we take this very seriously and it did from day one here last winter. We were early in informing the staff on how to behave, wash their hands and these basic things, he tells Expressen.
Strong measures following the spread of infection
After the outbreak, LKAB will now take further measures to reduce the risk of increased spread of infection.
We will reduce the number of people in the workplace to an absolute minimum, everyone who can work at home should do so. We should not have any physical meetings, we will also remove training with practical steps, we have a whole battery of measures, he says.
Source: Expressen.se
