Север и рынок. 2022, № 2.

СЕВЕР И РЫНОК: формирование экономического порядка. 2022. № 2. С. 124-130. Sever i rynok: formirovanie ekonomicheskogo poryadka [The North and the Market: Forming the Economic Order], 2022, no. 2, pp. 124-130. НАУЧНЫЕ СООБЩЕНИЯ groups. As a result of the meeting, on March 21 the regional volunteer headquarters of ARPF and "United Russia" was set up. The all-Russian action of mutual assistance #WeAreTogether started on the same day, and within a few days regional volunteer headquarters were formed in all regions of Russia. The volunteer movement snowballed, and in early April the United Volunteer Centre of Murmansk oblast was established. The Centre brought together various volunteer organizations, groups, and individuals (including, in addition to those already mentioned, the Red Cross, eco-volunteers, and persons who had not previously participated in NGOs) and started to coordinate the work of volunteer centres in the municipalities. It received strong support from the federal and regional levels as well as from the industrial and business sectors. Local volunteer centres were set up in all 17 municipalities of Murmansk oblast in April 2020. New centres united volunteers from local administrations, volunteer movements, youth centres, universities and colleges, the media, local businesses, sports clubs, and rescue brigades. As the interviews showed, some smaller NGOs were not involved in the initial activities of the local centres and the increase in their involvement became a task for future work. The local centres answered the hotlines for persons aged 65+ and those having chronic diseases, low-mobility people, and people in self-isolation. Volunteers shopped for these individuals, delivered medicines and free food, helped with household chores, and worked at checkpoints at road inspections. Large industrial companies hosted by the municipalities (PhosAgro, Nornikel, and other companies that play an important city-forming role) supported communities investing in health sector facilities. They also formed corporate volunteer structures working in cooperation with local volunteer centres to help the elderly and other vulnerable groups. In Murmansk oblast, as well as throughout Russia, a significant rise in the volunteer movement was seen, and the results were substantial. In April - October 2020, 700 COVID-volunteers in Murmansk oblast fulfilled 17,600 appeals for assistance and delivered more than 14,000 free meals to those in need. The growth of the volunteer movement and the outstanding service provided during the pandemic were achieved through the concerted efforts of volunteers, close cooperation of volunteer structures with local, regional, and federal governments and businesses, and strong support from state authorities. The COVID situation in Troms and Finnmark Based on a national increase in COVID infections, the Norwegian Prime Minister announced a national partial lockdown on March 12, 2020. All schools, kindergartens, and universities closed as well as all cultural and sports activities. Vulnerable groups dependent on practical help or social contact experienced a break in their daily routines. Employees were asked to work from home and old age homes were closed for visitors as they became high COVID-19 transmission areas. The infection rate was at this stage the highest in the southern capital area, while the northern regions had minor outbreaks. This caused some discontent because strong national restraints in less infected regions were considered unnecessary. The first infections in the northern region came with foreign labour in the cruise industry and fishing vessels boarding in Troms0 city and from migrant workers returning from holidays in Eastern European countries, but gradually also from internal travel, and it spread to the local population of all ages. Some northern municipalities enacted local bylaws to restrict visitors from southern Norway with a higher infection rate from entering their territory by introducing quarantine measures. Places with high risks of transmission were hospitals, old age homes, bars, and restaurants. The cities in the north experienced some bigger outbreaks, but they were fought back by massive testing and tracing of close contacts of the infected, followed by isolation and quarantine. The infection peak came in waves at different times in different municipalities and challenged the municipal healthcare capacity. The tracing of contacts of the infected and information about the need for isolation by phone was a task with which the municipalities helped each other. Hammerfest was hit by a massive outbreak in May 2021, and the infection tracing team in Troms0 helped to reach the target group because they had the capacity to do so. The regional hospitals also exchanged personnel to step in when health workers themselves became infected and had to stay at home. By June 2021 all the municipalities of Troms and Finnmark had experienced COVID outbreaks, and most people living outside the bigger cities in Troms and Finnmark had experienced limited periods of restrictions like the ban on social activities and meetings outside the household. A total lockdown, with everything closed except for grocery shops and pharmacies, was only implemented in some northern cities (Hammerfest, Harstad, and Troms0) and only for a limited period. Volunteer work with vulnerable groups in Troms and Finnmark The volunteer movement quickly mobilised to assist during the crisis. The national health authorities cooperated with the three major NGOs — the Red Cross, the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association, and Norwegian Peoples Aid — to work out guidelines for © Ныгор В., Рябова Л. А., 2022 128