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Norway adds basic police services to coronavirus lockdown lift

The Local Norway
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Norway adds basic police services to coronavirus lockdown lift
Norwegian Justice Minister Monica Mæland at the press conference on Tuesday. Photo: Screenshot

Norway is to reopen basic services run by the police, such as reporting serious crimes, passport applications, and migration and residency issues, in a further extension of its planned reopening.

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In the government's first press conference after the Easter break, Justice Minister Monica Mæland announced that from next week police districts would partly reopen stations to the general public. 
 
"For this to be carried out practically, we must first make sure that the necessary anti-contagion measures are taken and that those who use the police's services online can continue to do that," she said, according to state broadcaster NRK.  
 
At the same press conference, Health Minister Bent Høie warned that if the gradual lifting of the country's coronavirus restrictions was to continue, Norwegians would have to continue to adhere to social distancing and hygiene recommendations. 
 

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"Soon hairdressers are going to open their doors again, and physiotherapists will meet patients face-to-face, and so it will be very easy to think that everything is back to how it was before, but I must emphasise that it will be far away from how everything was before." 
 
He warned that if Norwegian let their guard drop, leading to a second wave of infections, that would require a renewed lockdown. 
 
"If we fail, we will need to tighten up again. We have taken control together and it has come at a high price. We must keep control together, and it's extremely easy to let it go." 
 
Mæland was highly critical of Norwegians who held parties over Easter, forcing police to come and break them up. 
 
"There are some cases where the police have had to come out and stop parties," she said, according to the VG newspaper. "I understand that people are impatient, but it is important and absolutely necessary that people continue to take part in the voluntary effort and follow the rules of infection control." 
 
 

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