OSLO: Prime Minister Erna Solberg told Norwegians to avoid travelling domestically and instead stay at home as much as possible as part of a new round of recommendations and restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
The number of cases has risen in many parts of Norway, hitting a record last week in a country which long had one of Europe’s lowest rate of infections.
“We now see a sharp increase in the number of people testing positive. The situation is very serious, and…we don’t have time to wait and see if the measures we introduced last week are enough,” Solberg told parliament.
Last week, Norway tightened restrictions on gatherings and foreign workers entering the country after a rise in coronavirus infections.
Now, Norwegians are urged to stay at home as much as possible in the coming weeks and to limit their social interactions, and bars across the country now have to close at midnight.
Norway recorded a revised 3,118 new COVID-19 cases last week, up from 1,718 the week before – both higher than the previous peak of 1,733 cases posted in the week March 16-22, according to data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Many countries which have tried to tighten restrictions have ended up locking down again and the government now prepares for further restrictions if it turns out these are necessary to avoid a collapse in health services, Solberg said.
“Remember that we are doing this for each other, to avoid serious illness and death…and to avoid coming back to where we were in March,” she said.
Norway’s total death toll from COVID-19 stood at 282 up to Thursday. Its 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants was 88.8 as of Wednesday, third-lowest in Europe behind Finland and Estonia, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
