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Coronavirus: Norwegian county advises against taking public transport to Oslo

The Local Norway
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Coronavirus: Norwegian county advises against taking public transport to Oslo
File photo: AFP

The county governor in Vestfold and Telemark has advised residents of the region, home to a significant number of commuters, to avoid taking public transport to Oslo.

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The Norwegian capital has seen the highest numbers of new cases of Covid-19 in recent weeks, although only 21 were registered in the 24 hours prior to Monday’s update, according to figures from the Oslo city government.

That is the lowest number of daily infections in Oslo since at least September 28th. Daily totals for new cases in the city have generally hovered around 50 in recent weeks, with 60 and 42 registered on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Nationally, the most recent total for new registered cases is 58, according to NRK.

Oslo authorities said late last week that they would extend current coronavirus restrictions in the city, overriding a national easing of measures during October.

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In addition to advising against taking public transport to Oslo, the Vestfold and Telemark county governor urged the use of face masks if journeys are unavoidable and a distance of one metre cannot be maintained.

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The advice was issued by the county via a statement on its website.

Working from home was encouraged wherever possible for Oslo commuters who live in Vestfold and Telemark, the southernmost county in eastern Norway.

“The county governor in Vestfold and Telemark has today been in consultation with leaders from municipalities in the county. The aim of the meeting was to create a unified approach to how we must respond to the increased infection numbers (of Covid-19) in Oslo and in our own county. In the meeting, commuting to Oslo was a key topic,” the statement reads.

“We agreed on the recommendations the Norwegian Institute for Public Health has made for municipalities which have close contact to Oslo via commuting, which residents should follow travelling to and from Oslo,” it added.

That means recommending avoiding public transport, using face masks on congested transport and working from home where possible, it said.

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