CORONAVIRUS NORWAY
Copenhagen, Jan 23 (EFE) .- The Norwegian Government decreed this Saturday a closure of economic activity and public life for a week in the Oslo area due to an outbreak of the British mutation of Sars-CoV2.
The measures, which affect ten municipalities in the Norwegian capital region, will be in effect initially from 11.00 GMT today until the 31st.
All non-essential stores will remain closed, as well as shopping centers, restaurants (which may be sold at home), gyms, swimming pools, libraries, cinemas and museums, and sports or leisure activities will be suspended.
Higher education centers will implement distance learning, while this will be combined with face-to-face learning in schools.
The authorities also recommend avoiding home visits, unnecessary travel and urge to work from home, completing a package of measures tougher than the one that was implemented last spring at the beginning of the pandemic.
“It is a very serious situation and we must do everything we can to stop the outbreak. Let’s hope that everyone gets involved in this enormous show of force to defeat the mutation, ”said Health Minister Bent Høie at a press conference.
Høie advised residents in affected areas not to move to other municipalities where such restrictions do not apply.
OUTBREAK IN A RESIDENCE FOR THE ELDERLY
The outbreak was confirmed on Friday in the municipality of Nordre Follo, with 34 cases and two deaths in a nursing home and a possible spread to a nursery.
The Institute of Public Health believes that the outbreak may have originated two weeks ago.
This variant was detected for the first time in the United Kingdom in September and has spread throughout the continent, especially in Ireland, but also in Denmark, where authorities estimate that it will be the dominant one in mid-February.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday that there is “evidence” that “it is associated with a higher level of mortality”, in addition to being more contagious, although vaccines appear to be effective against that strain.
Norway is one of the countries least affected by the pandemic in Europe, with 60,259 cases and 544 deaths (10.24 per 100,000 inhabitants), according to the US Johns Hopkins University.
The incidence in the first two weeks of January was 148.94 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the fifth lowest in Europe, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
–
