1156 new corona infections registered in the last 24 hours – 495 in Oslo – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

A total of 82,455 infected people have been registered since the pandemic began, according to FHI figures.

This is the first time that more than 1,000 infected people have been registered in one day. The previous peak was reached on January 6, with 930 infected in one day.

It may be relevant to strengthen national measures

– We see that the most contagious virus variant leads to a sharp increase in infection, especially in Oslo. Therefore, it is necessary with the strict measures that are now in Oslo, Viken and a number of other areas with high infection, says the Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie (H) to NRK.

He says that if there are large outbreaks in many places, it will be relevant to strengthen national measures.

– We have taken national measures where there is infection. But we still have different infection situations across the country. This means that it is important that we have strict measures in place when there is an increase in infection.

Høie hopes that the measures that have been introduced will reverse development.

– We see that other countries that have also been dominant due to the most contagious variant of the virus, such as Ireland, managed to reverse the development. There are also the same remedies against this virus, at the same time that we see that the vaccination is going well. We have passed more than 700,000 doses, says Høie.

448,355 people have received the first dose of the coronary vaccine. 257,405 people have received both doses of vaccine and are therefore fully vaccinated.

– Unlike a year ago, we have more knowledge about what works against the infection, we are in the process of vaccination and we know that this will end one day, and we have a plan for it. And then we have shown in Norway that we can change that kind of situation sooner. We are now in a third wave and I think I should be able to turn the wave a third time.

Høie says that we are now in a difficult period.

– And it is important that we manage to change the trend towards Easter.

224 at the hospital

So far, around 4.2 million corona tests have been performed in Norway.

224 corona patients were hospitalized on Tuesday. There were three more than the day before.

A total of 641 corona-infected people have died in Norway since March 2020, preliminary figures show. It is not always possible to establish whether patients have died from or from COVID-19.

63.9 percent of all deaths have reached the age of 80. In the age group under 50 years, nine deaths have been reported in Norway.

Record numbers in Oslo

In Oslo, 495 corona infections were recorded in the last 24 hours. That’s 214 more than Wednesday of last week. This is the highest number recorded in one day in the capital, so far during the pandemic.

A total of 24,277 Oslo citizens have been infected since March last year.

Health Councilor Robert Steen (Labor Party) told NTB on Tuesday that there is no doubt that Oslo is in a third wave of infection. He says the situation is serious.

– We have never been close to registering such a high level of infection as we have recently. Although we have had very strict measures in Oslo for a long time, the infection has more than quadrupled since the beginning of February, Steen said.

Infection rates are highest in the Stovner district. The infection pressure is 1,414 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks. There were 62 new infections in the district in the last 24 hours.

It is followed by the districts of Grorud and Alna. In the Ullern district, infection rates are lower. There is an infection pressure of 243 infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks.

Strict measures

In Viken, all 51 municipalities have introduced strict measures. The measures affect 1.2 million residents of the county and many rural municipalities have to close.

On Tuesday, the stricter level of measures was continued for several municipalities in the former Vestfold County and adjusted upward for the later Vestfold municipalities.

The government also introduced the strictest level of measures for seven Haugalandet municipalities in Rogaland. The measures apply from midnight until Sunday, April 11.

– There is a growing infection with the English variant of the virus in several of the municipalities in the Haugesund area, and they report that the situation is challenging and confusing. Therefore, municipalities have requested that the government introduce regional measures so that they can control the infection, Bent Høie (H) said in a press release on Tuesday.

The measures apply to the municipalities of Bokn, Haugesund, Karmøy, Tysvær, Utsira and Vindafjord in Rogaland county, as well as Sveio in Vestland county.