You are now advised to avoid visits. The government with several comprehensive measures. – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

There is a growing trend of infection in more than 40 municipalities. The Christmas party is over, the day returns and people move.

The government is warning of weeks of rising infection and presented several national measures at a press conference at 6pm tonight.

– We are concerned about the evolution of infection rates, said Erna Solberg when he opened the press conference.

He noted that many people are moving after the Christmas holidays, that many migrant workers will return to Norway, and that a new mutated coronavirus has been detected in Norway.

“Together, we must take steps to prevent the infection from spreading,” Solberg said, before providing information on new measures.

These are the measures and recommendations introduced by the government, effective from January 4 to 18:

• Do not visit your home. Wait 14 days before visiting or visiting other people. This does not apply to those who are close in the last phase of life. Those who live alone can be visited by one or two permanent people for the next 14 days. Alternatively, those who live alone may have a permanent family that they visit. Children can also be visited by children from the same cohort in kindergarten and school.

Orders coming, and one can risk a fine if you break these rules:

• Prohibit drinking alcohol, but restaurants can remain open.
• A maximum of five people at private events outside of their own homes, such as a birthday party in a rented room.
• There can be a maximum of ten people at public events indoors. But up to 200 people if everyone sits in a fixed seat. At funerals there can be up to 50 people, even if the seat is not fixed.

National advice and recommendations:

• All planned teaching and events at university, college and vocational school will be digitized until January 18. Folkehøgskular and bibelskular should follow the advice of local health authorities.
• All upper secondary schools and junior schools in the country must move to the red level.
• Avoid unhelpful trips at home and abroad. But you can go to the cabin with the people you live with.
• Anyone who can have a home office should have one.
• Shopping centers and stores must have access control and restrictions on the number of people who can enter the premises. This is so that distance can be maintained.
• All organized leisure activities, sports activities, cultural events and philosophical events inside will be postponed until after January 18. This also applies to events that apply to children in all cohorts, but not to funerals.
• Outdoor activities can be done if it is possible to keep at least one meter to others.
• The best sports have a special exception and are not covered by the recommendations.

Special recommendations for regions with high infection pressure:

• Assess whether kindergartens and kindergartens should follow the ‘red level’ guide.
• Evaluate ordering face masks in public places where it is not possible to keep one meter away from others.
• Consider the home office requirement for those who can.
• Consider an order to close a gym, bingo and swimming pools.

Overall, we hope this package of measures will be enough to prevent a new wave of infection, said Erna Solberg, who said the rules will be reconsidered in mid-January.

No new rules for entry quarantine have been introduced, but the government has introduced a test obligation for all travelers to Norway, something that caused long lines yesterday at Oslo airport in Gardermoen.

Reactions of the Labor Party and the Progress Party

– The Progress Party reacts to the fact that the government gives students so little notice, Åshild Bruun-Gundersen tells NTB.

She is the spokesperson for the party’s health policy. She notes that many students are on their way to the study city tonight and thinks the government should present the guidelines sooner.

Terje Lien Aasland of the Labor Party, on the other hand, believes that financial measures must now be taken to support companies that are affected by the new guidelines.

– This is a situation where infection control measures and financial measures must go hand in hand, Aasland tells NTB.

He points out that nightclubs, restaurants and hotels were heavily affected by the measures introduced by the government and calls for an expanded compensation scheme.

Received contributions from the health authorities

The government had received the following advice and input from the health authorities in advance. Here you can read the recommendations of the National Institute of Public Health and the Norwegian Health Directorate. Some of the recommendations were followed, but not all.

Erna Solberg answered why the government did not follow the advice to close shopping malls and restaurants.

– We believe that it is possible to function if the shopping centers do what they say. All stores need to know how many they can have inside at once and have control over how many they let in. He has seen me work, said the Prime Minister.

He said care must be taken that this is about jobs too and that there are ways to adapt to infection control without closing these stores.

– When it comes to the ban on serving alcohol for the next 14 days, some are likely to say they don’t have a sales base to keep up with. But it is the case that these are jobs, and that you can eat. We see that food restaurants are relatively good at keeping their distance, Solberg said.

Expect good progress in vaccinations

Solberg was asked if the recommendations should have come before the last day of the Christmas break. She replied that the government made an assessment before Christmas to shut down the country, but concluded that the contagion rate at that time did not advocate such a comprehensive measure.

– In the meantime, we must have a break. And I think Christmas has been an important respite for many. In order to see family, people who would otherwise feel lonely have been able to have contact with each other. I also know that there are challenges with infection control, Solberg said.

The director of the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Camilla Stoltenberg, commented on the work of vaccinating people.

– We had a slow opening this Christmas. The first vaccines arrived on the second day of Christmas, and then just under 10,000 doses arrived that were distributed in seven municipalities. Then came more on December 28, which was sent to the municipalities. And we are concerned that municipalities will have time to prepare to carry out vaccinations efficiently, well and safely starting tomorrow, Stoltenberg said.

He added that FHI estimates that there will be effective progress in vaccination in the coming weeks. He also said that a new vaccine from the drug company Moderna appears to be arriving faster than previously thought.

Bring a message to students

Last night it was announced that one of the measures will be to stop all physical education in colleges and universities. This makes it possible for students to stay where they are, rather than return to their hometown.

This measure is criticized by some students who think that the government is too late. Read more about it here.

Education Minister Guri Melby responded to the criticism.

– I think it is not correct to make recommendations before we have the knowledge that says the measure is correct, said Melby.

During Christmas, fewer corona tests have been performed than before Christmas, but the proportion of positive results has increased. And the number of infected insects is slowly but surely increasing. The R number is 1.3, which means that the situation is such that 100 infected people infect another 130 people.

Stavanger and Trondheim are two of the cities that have had little infection for a long time, and in recent weeks have experienced that the infection can increase rapidly. FHI said yesterday that the infection may now be on par with last fall’s peak.

These days, many hardworking immigrants are expected to return to Norway after the Christmas holidays, and many students are also expected to move after they have finished.