Oslo to shut down social life to fight virus spread in Norway (updated)
06/11/2020 13:23
(Adds length of measures in 3rd paragraph)
OSLO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Norway's capital Oslo will shut down
theatres, cinemas, training centres and swimming pools to
contain the spread of the coronavirus, city authorities said on
Friday, with bars and restaurants no longer able to serve
alcohol.
"We are doing a social lockdown of Oslo," the governing
mayor of Oslo, Raymond Johansen, told a news conference. "The
numbers are clear. The number of infected cases is rising."
The rules take effect on Monday at 2300 GMT. They will end
in three weeks if the authorities see a fall in new infections.
The announcement comes a day after Prime Minister Erna
Solberg announced a fresh round of recommendations and
restrictions, including telling Norwegians to avoid travelling
domestically and to stay at home as much as possible.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2HR3GT
Norway's 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per
100,000 inhabitants was 105.3 as of Friday, the third-lowest in
Europe behind Finland and Estonia, according to the European
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
But there are regional disparities and authorities are most
concerned about the situation in Oslo and Bergen, the
second-largest city.
In Oslo, the 14-day cumulative number of new COVID-19 cases
was 192.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, local authorities said, with
5.2% of people tested for the disease returning positive
results.
"1 in 4 people do not know how they were infected," said
Robert Steen, the city's head of health services.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and
Edmund Blair)
((gwladys.fouche@tr.com; +47 21 04 05 53; Reuters Messaging:
Twitter handle: @gfouche))