Norwegians told to suspend social lives to stop ‘new wave’

NORWAY will impose fresh restrictions to prevent a resurgence in the spread of the coronavirus, Erna Solberg, the country’s prime minister, said yesterday, including a nationwide ban on serving alcohol in restaurants and bars and not hosting guests.

The Nordic country has seen a rise in cases of Covid-19 over the past month and now estimates that one sick person infects 1.3 people on average, authorities have said.

“We see more signs of a new wave of infections,” Ms Solberg told a news conference, citing Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations and the emergence of the more contagious variant of the virus first identified in Britain among the reasons.

So in order not to have an epidemic that is “out of control”, Norwegians must suspend their social lives for the next two weeks, Ms Solberg said

On Saturday, the government said lectures at universities would be suspended until Jan 18, asking students to stay home and not return to their campuses during that time.

Last Thursday, Oslo imposed mandatory Covid-19 tests for all people arriving in Norway upon arrival or within 24 hours to stop the spread of the variant first detected in Britain.