– During two of the days we open for up to ten guests – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

The prime minister says that authorities have worked to find the right balance between preventing more infections and that Norwegians will also be able to celebrate the holiday this year.

The government recommends that you can have up to ten guests twice at Christmas, if you have room to keep distance between guests.

– We maintain the rule of up to five guests, but during two of the days we open for up to ten guests. For example, on Christmas Eve and New Years or on two other days, says Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H).

Solberg emphasizes that these are the national recommendations and that some municipalities may have stricter rules for the number of guests at Christmas.

The Prime Minister also recalls limiting the total number of close contacts at Christmas.

– It shouldn’t be the case that you have five new guests every day and ten new and different ones on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

One meter distance around the table

The prime minister says quarantine rules still apply. For example, everyone should be quarantined for ten days after being in a red country. The distance rules are also the same.

– We still have a meter of distance. This also applies to the Christmas party. From when the mulled wine is served, until you sit at the table, until we open the Christmas presents. The main rule is still to limit the people you have contact with during Christmas. Also in the run-up to Christmas and holiday shopping, Solberg says.

Considerations about loneliness

One of the reasons the government and health authorities are opening up to more hosts is to prevent isolates from feeling more alone due to infection control rules.

– This is one of the main reasons why we have emphasized in our recommendation that you should expand the number of guests you take into account so that you can invite at Christmas. So that no one is left out or not invited due to a somewhat rigid limit, says the director of the Line Vold department of the National Institute of Public Health.

334 have died of covid-19 in this country since the pandemic broke out. There are currently 128 people hospitalized in Norway.

To keep the number as low as possible, infection control and distance are the most important aids until the population has been vaccinated.

– Christmas is a time of closeness and not distance. But we are concerned that the Christmas celebration will lead to more infections in society. We don’t want to start the year with rising infection rates, says Solberg.

They don’t know they are infected

The Minister of Health and Care Services, Bent Høie (H), says that there are many in society who are infected, and most do not even know they are. He believes that there is light at the end of the tunnel if the population follows the advice.

– The figures indicate that together we can do it again. Because the number of infected goes down again. It is thanks to the efforts of the population, again. But this positive development shouldn’t lead us to lower our shoulders again, says Høie.

Home of Oslo?

Infection pressure is still much higher in Oslo than in the rest of the country, although infection in the capital has decreased somewhat in recent days.

Many of those who return home for Christmas are students in Oslo and Bergen. Infection rates are declining, but large cities have had the most infections among young adults this fall.

Health authorities have asked people traveling from high-infection areas in Norway to exercise caution for the first ten days after arriving in low-infection areas. Unnecessary travel is not recommended, but a trip home may be necessary for Christmas, FHI said.