Good news ... Norway is reopening nurseries and children's laughs are ringing again

Many kindergartens reopened in Norway today, Monday, five weeks after being closed due to the emerging epidemic of Corona Virus (Covid-19).

And eager to meet his friends and reluctant to get away from his family, today, Norwegian children began to return to the nurseries, in the context of measures to contain the emerging corona virus.

After five weeks of silence, the children's laughs are resounding in the playgrounds of the "Espera Gravesen Station" nursery in the north of the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

Swirling with sweaters and winter hats, children returned to kindergartens on Monday morning in a cold, warm sunshine.

Some were reluctant to get away from their families, but most of the children were anxious to run and meet their friends to play on the clay.

After taking him with his brother Casper, Celie Skiville said of her eldest son, Isaacs, "He was so excited that we were forced out of the house early to come here and see other children."

"I almost cried, he was very happy to see his friends."

Workers in the nursery attended to receive children at the entrance as it prohibited the public from entering the building in order to reduce the risk of infection.

But none of the employees or the family did not put up masks.

Together with Austria, Denmark and Germany, Norway is one of the first countries to begin easing the containment restrictions for the Coronavirus imposed since March 12.

Norway, with a population of 5.4 million people, recorded 7,113 confirmed cases of the emerging coronavirus and 154 deaths, and it has witnessed a noticeable decline in the number of new infections requiring hospitalization.

- Restore normalcy? Norway did not declare victory over the virus, but its authorities announced in early April that they considered the epidemic "under control", so the country would embark on a journey to restore normalcy, albeit slowly and gradually.

After the nursery schools, the primary schools reopen their doors next Monday.

The authorities announced that they had ordered the reopening of the nurseries because the children were less affected by Covid-19 than others.

Education Minister Gury Milby has repeatedly said, "Going to a nursery school is safe" during the announcement of the reopening.

However, some of the people objected to the decision.

Like neighboring Denmark, where schools started reopening as of last week, a Facebook group has been created under the title "My son should not be a testing ground for Coved-19". .

A poll published by the station, "NRK" at the weekend, showed that 24 percent of the parents do not want their children to return to the nursery school, and 13 percent are reluctant to do so.

On social media, accusations of "adventure of children's lives" and of playing "Russian roulette" abounded.

One of the parents posted a comment on Facebook saying, "I will not send my daughter to the nursery unless I become 110% satisfied."

Nurseries must adhere to certain health protocols, as children under three years of age must be divided into groups of three children under the supervision of an adult. As for children between three and six years of age, they can be divided into groups of six children.

In "Espera Gravesen Station", an employee wearing plastic gloves cleans the gym while children play.

"We have sterilized the kindergarten, everything is very clean," said nursery director Tony Milla, who came to answer the parents' questions.

"Of course, now hygiene is the biggest concern."

On the official level, a decision was taken to reopen the nurseries on health grounds, but the decision is reflected on the other hand by the satisfaction of some families who have to reconcile the responsibilities of caring for the family and working from home.

After bringing his son Oliver to "Espera Gravesen Station", Olaf Knippen told AFP the difficulty of the past period and said, "It was fun to spend more time than usual with him, but the work was difficult because I could not accomplish everything that I was supposed to accomplish."

When asked if he had concerns about the return of children to foster care, he stressed that he trusted the authorities.

"At home, we decided to follow the recommendations of the health authorities. So when the authorities recommend this (reopening nurseries), we are confident that it will be relatively safe," he said.

But he added, "Of course we are not 100% sure, but I agree (the authorities) that it is time for that."