Norway lifts almost all health measures | Photo credits: TimOve / Creative Commons
OSLO, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Norway announced on Saturday the lifting of most of the measures still in place against the spread of COVID-19, the Prime Minister, explaining that the still high number of new infections is no longer a a risk to health services.
Oslo, which had already lifted several measures on February 1, will nevertheless maintain some in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
These decisions took effect at 10:00 a.m. (09:00 GMT).
“We are lifting almost all measures related to the coronavirus,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said at a press conference.
“The coronavirus pandemic is no longer a serious health threat to most of us. The Omicron virus causes far less severe disease and we are well protected by vaccines.”
Norwegians are therefore no longer obliged to maintain a distance of at least one meter or to wear the mask in crowded places. The lifting of these measures allows in particular the return to a normal activity of the discotheques.
In addition, people who are sick with COVID-19 will no longer be required to self-isolate, with authorities simply recommending that they stay at home for four days.
Norway had imposed partial containment in December in an attempt to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
(Report Gwladys Fouche, French version Marc Angrand)