These are Norway’s new rules for recent arrivals from the UK

Health minister Bent Høie announced on Monday that authorities in Norway will be contacting people who travelled from the UK within the last 14 days to ask them to comply with new restrictions.

The restrictions have been introduced in response to the discovery of a faster-spreading variant of Covid-19.

Norway has also temporarily suspended passenger flights from the United Kingdom.

READ ALSO: Norway bans flights from UK over new Covid-19 strain

Health minister Bent Høie said that authorities in the Nordic countries have begun contacting persons who have travelled to Norway from the UK during the last 14 days. SMS messages have been sent to relevant persons, according to the minister.

“People who do not follow the new rules can be sanctioned under the law. It is extremely important that people who arrived from the United Kingdom in the last 14 days get a (Covid-19) test and comply with these rules,” Høie said.

The following rules will apply to all travellers from the UK to Norway until January 10th:

• A PCR Covid-19 test must be taken within 1 day after arrival in Norway and again 7 days after arrival from the UK
• A PCR Covid-19 test must be taken as soon as possible by anyone who travelled from the UK to Norway within the last 14 days
• Registration with authorities required on arrival
• Registration required with local municipality at destination in Norway
• Current exemptions from arrival quarantine do not apply to travellers from the UK, though some exemptions may further apply to this

In addition to the above Norway’s general quarantine rules still apply.

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According to figures reported by Aftenposten, 2,771 people have travelled from the UK to Norway within the last two weeks.

The Directorate of Health is working to establish whether any cases of the new, more infectious strain of the virus are already in Norway, NRK writes.

The new variant of the coronavirus is believed to have first appeared in the London and Kent areas of the UK in September, and is reported to be up to 70 percent more contagious than other strains. But based on what scientists know so far, the variant does not appear to cause more serious illness than other kinds of coronavirus.