Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday

US taken off Norway's Covid travel purple list

Norway has taken the US off its purple travel list, meaning travellers from the US can no longer travel to Norway to visit close family or partners living in Norway from today. 

Entry to Norway from the US will be restricted to residents and citizens, with a few exceptions, such as travelling for childcare, that you can read more about here.

Travel: Norway to take the US off Covid-19 purple travel list

The US was only introduced to Norway’s purple list last week after Norway finished harmonising its Covid country classification system with EU thresholds. 

Purple list countries are a select few countries from the EU’s third country list that allow the close family and partners of Norwegian residents and citizens to visit Norway. You can read more about the travel rules for purple countries here. 

Expert predicts vaccine-resistant Covid variants 

A Norwegian vaccine expert believes that it's only a matter of time before we see coronavirus variants that are resistant to vaccines. 

Gunnveig Gødeland, a vaccine researcher, told broadcaster TV2 that she believes that sooner or later, there will be a Covid-19 variant that vaccines offer no protection against. 

“At some point, it will happen. The virus is constantly evolving, and it is mutating all the time, there are already over 10,000 variants of SARS-CoV-2, and it will continue. Vaccines have proved very effective against the variants we have encountered so far,” she told TV2.

Four out of ten seen an increase in coronavirus cases on the horizon

Four out of ten Norwegians believe that the number of Covid-19 cases will rise in the coming weeks, according to the latest Norwegian Corona Monitor from data collection firm Opinion.

This is the first time in three months that the proportion of people expecting coronavirus infections to increase has risen.

The data collection firm said that 42 percent of those surveyed expect infections to go up, three out of ten said they expect cases to drop, and 28 percent said they did not know. 

Man in court for refusing to pay Covid fine

A man who refused to pay a fine for breaking coronavirus restrictions in October will appear in court. 

Prosecuting authorities are hoping to have his punishment raised from 24,000 kroner to 29,000 kroner. 

The fine was issued because the man violated entry quarantine rules by visiting six other people three days after returning to Norway. 

READ ALSO: What happens if you refuse to pay a fine for breaking the Covid rules in Norway

The man is also alleged to have threatened police officers after being issued the fine. 

The case will be heard in Oslo District Court on September 13th. 

97 new Covid-19 infections in Norway 

On Sunday, 97 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Norway, 82 less than the seven-day average for the whole country. 

In Oslo, 16 coronavirus infections were registered in the past 24 hours, 11 less than the seven-day average for the capital. 

Cases tend to be lower on weekends as fewer tests are processed, and less people get tested. 

Total number of Covid-19 cases in Norway. Source: NIPH