Advertisement

Today in Norway For Members

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

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Read about the latest Covid development's in Norway and the sale of the Bergen Engines by Rolls Royce in today's roundup of important news. Pictured is Bergen. Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash "

Find out what's going on in Norway on Wednesday with The Local's short roundup of important news.

Advertisement

Norway registers new daily Covid infection record 

On Tuesday, 7,921 Covid-19 infections were registered in Norway, the highest number of daily cases recorded throughout the pandemic.

Tuesday's figure is 2,219 reported infections more than the same day last week and 2,688 cases higher than Monday.

The previous daily infection record was 6,003 cases recorded on December 14th.

Over the last seven days, an average of 4,240 new infections have been registered per day. The same average a week ago was 3,360 cases.

The government and health authorities had warned this week that they expected a sharp increase in cases as people returned to their everyday lives following the festive period.

READ MORE: Covid to hit everyday life in Norway throughout winter, warns PM

Government under pressure to end alcohol ban

The government is under increasing pressure to consider scrapping the nationwide ban on selling alcohol in bars and restaurants from employer organisations, the nightlife sector and politicians from other parties.

Advertisement

The Socialist Left Party, the Green Party and Progress Party have all said they want to see the ban brought to an end or reassessed. Additionally, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise has also been critical of the ban, which it has said is the only one of its kind in Europe.

The pressure on the government to lift or reassess the ban has been heavily reported in the Norwegian press, with public broadcaster NRK and newspaper VG reporting on the topic in recent days.

The country's largest opposition party, the Conservative Party, has no plans to call for the ban to end. 

Covid restrictions likely to be adjusted

The government will likely adjust Norway's Covid restrictions when it assesses them on January 14th. However, it is too early to say what could be changed and whether infection measures will be relaxed or tightened, health minister Ingvild Kjerkol has told newspaper VG.

Advertisement

"The infection is high in several areas in the country, and there is also greater uncertainty around holidays and Christmas. So we will make a new assessment on January 14th, at the same time, we will follow the situation day by day," Kjekol said.

The health minister wasn't drawn into discussing which measures could be adjusted or whether they would become stricter or more relaxed.

Rolls Royce sells off Bergen unit 

British aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce has completed the sale of its Norwegian unit Bergen Engines to Langley Holdings for 91 million euros, it announced Tuesday.

Bergen Engines had been a part of Rolls Royce since 1999, servicing engines for Norwegian Navy vessels.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also