These are the government’s recommendations before the Christmas celebration – VG

The ten guests are added to the number of people who already belong to the home, it is emphasized.

– It has not been easy to find the right balance. We live different lives, with different family patterns and constellations. Christmas is a time for closeness, not distance, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said during today’s press conference.

– But we do not want to start the new year with increasing contagion rates and new austerity measures, he continued, before the measures to be applied at Christmas were presented.

These are the government’s recommendations:

• You still need to limit the total number of people you have social contact with throughout the entire period, and not least in the run-up to Christmas.
• The government maintains the recommendation that you can have up to 5 guests during the New Year.
• On two of the days it is open for up to 10 guests. That means up to 10 guests on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, or two other days of your choice during the period.
• There should always be at least one meter of distance between all the people who do not otherwise live together. This applies both when you sit down at the table, when gifts are handed out and when Christmas cakes arrive.
• If you cannot have the Christmas party at a distance of at least one meter if you invite 10 people, you must invite less.
• If you come from heavily infected areas, you should keep a distance of 2 meters from people at risk.

– With these recommendations, we mean that it will be a great party for most people, although it may be a little different than what we are used to, says Solberg.

Discourage travel abroad

The government does not want extensive trips abroad at Christmas.

– It is not Christmas to travel abroad unless it is really necessary. We know that many people often take advantage of the Christmas holidays to visit families living in other countries, says the Prime Minister.

– My concern is that those who choose to travel bring the infection with them. Therefore, I would like to forcefully remind you of the quarantine rules. They’ll be there after Christmas, and it’s incredibly important that the people who think they need to go out follow them.

Erna sums up the “Christmas rules”:

In addition, the Prime Minister encourages the inclusion of those who are known to be alone at Christmas and Advent, for example talking on the phone or going for a walk together. It also says that children and young people with divorced parents should have contact with both parents in a normal way during the Christmas celebration.

Health Minister Bent Høie says the figures indicate that the infection is declining but warns against dropping shoulders.

– I was not sure how we would manage to end the second wave, when the infection also increased in this country. The numbers indicate that together we can do it again, says Høie.

– The infection in society is still too high for us to facilitate measures. We must continue to keep our distance, he says.

Starting next week, FHI will present weekly risk assessments at the county level, Høie says. This will allow counties and municipalities to work together to find appropriate measures, taking into account the local situation.

During the government press conference last week, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said that the national measures will last until at least December 16.

– I hope that in three weeks we will be in a situation that allows greater social contact during the Christmas celebration. In any case, there will be no room to plan the big Christmas or New Year parties this year, the Prime Minister said during the press conference.

Several municipalities have already produced their own tips for travelers returning home for the Christmas holidays. In the VG overview you can see which measures are applied both nationally and locally in your municipality.

Should Santa be considered a close contact? This is how the Government responds:

There is now a decreasing trend in infection in Norway, according to the VG summary. The infection trend is also decreasing in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. In the last 24 hours, 441 cases of contagion have been registered nationwide.

Health authorities have previously recommended that Christmas shopping be postponed for later if there is congestion. They encourage you to consider buying online or ask others to buy for you, especially if you are in a risk group. Also, you should avoid public transportation if possible, and don’t put off Christmas shopping until the last days before Christmas if you have a chance to do so earlier.

The following precautions are recommended for ten days after traveling to Norway from an area with high infection to an area with low infection:

• Reduce the number of contacts.
• Keep two meters of people in the risk group.
• Take special care with cough and hand hygiene.
• Pay special attention to the symptoms.
• Have a low threshold for testing if you have symptoms or think you may have been exposed to an infection.

See an overview of all national measures here:

Correction: In a push notification at 11:53, VG wrote that “The Norwegian Health Directorate and FHI recommend that you can have at least ten guests for up to two days at Christmas, Christmas and New Years.” It is wrong. The correct thing is that the recommendation is that you can have UP TO ten guests two days by Christmas.