Crown Prince Haakon has started making digital visits trough video-link to other nations. Last week Crown Prince Haakon visited several nations in the Middle East, and he made a digital visit to the small Norwegian town of Hammerfest. Hammerfest had several outbreaks of Covid-19 in the autumn. His Royal Highness met representatives from the municipality via video link.
Hammerfest is a small northern Norwegian city with only 8000 inhabitants. His Royal Highness said: “There are many who have contributed very positively in a situation that is challenging and difficult. We can not completely get away from the problems even if we prepare well, but we manage to deal with them in a way so that it does not get worse. That must be our goal – control throughout the process.”
Crown Prince Haakon was briefed on the situation in Hammerfest and how the infection control measures have affected different parts of the municipality. The Crown Prince spoke with county governor Elisabeth Vik Aspaker, rector Anita Olsen, mayor Marianne Sivertsen Næss, business leaders Eirik Bæivi and Siri Tau Ursin at Finnmark Hospital. In October, one-fifth of the employees at Hammerfest Hospital had to be quarantined after several employees were diagnosed with the coronavirus. The CEO at Finnmark Hospital spoke about a difficult situation to the Crown Prince.
The catering industry in Hammerfest was praised by the mayor for the introduction of good infection control routines and new creative ways to continue operating. Eirik Bæivi informed the Crown prince about the transition to takeaway and lunch boxes for his business. The introduction of tough corona measures has hit the business community hard.
Praise also went to the Baksalen School. They were quick to offer digital teaching to their students. The principal was pleased that teachers and students were well equipped with digital tools in advance and mastered the platforms.
