Norway announced on Wednesday the closure of its borders to almost all non-residents in order to prevent the spread of new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus.
"
From midnight on the night of Thursday to Friday, Norway will introduce the most stringent entry rules since March 12,
" Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said at a press briefing .
“
In practice, the border will be closed to all those who do not reside in Norway,
” she added.
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The Nordic country, which is not a member of the European Union but belongs to the Schengen area of free movement of persons, will reassess this measure in two weeks.
Only a few categories are exempt, such as people occupying critical functions for society (defense, energy, etc.), the transport of people and goods, healthcare workers from neighboring Sweden and Finland, or journalists. foreigners.
On the other hand, the measure applies to foreign sportsmen, while Norway is due to host international ski events in the coming weeks.
The kingdom, which has one of the lowest contamination rates in Europe, explains that it wants to keep the health situation under control.
“
We see that other countries have gone from low contamination figures to uncontrolled spread in the space of a few weeks, like Ireland,
” argued Erna Solberg.
These new restrictions come on top of some of the most severe entry measures in Europe (obligation to produce a negative test before entering the country, to undergo a new test at the border, 'register with local authorities and comply with a quarantine).
The Oslo region has been in semi-containment since last weekend after the discovery of an outbreak of cases of the British variant in a retirement home in a locality near the Norwegian capital.
