Norway registers highest-ever number of new Covid-19 cases
930 new cases of Covid-19 were registered in Norway in the latest daily update, the highest-ever 24-hour figure in the country.
Capital city Oslo saw a large proportion of the new cases, with 204 registered, while 50 positive tests were recorded in Stavanger.
The total figure, 930, represents an increase of 399 compared to the preceding day and is the highest daily figure registered in Norway since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. It should be noted that testing was less prevalent during the first wave of spring 2020.
Health minister Bent Høie told NRK that the government hopes a recent tightening of restriction will prevent a continuing rise in cases.
“It was this development we were concerned about when we increased restrictions on Sunday,” Høie said.
READ ALSO: These are Norway's coronavirus restrictions from January 4th
“It is now very important that everyone with symptoms is tested and follows recommendations and rules,” Høie added.
Hospitals in Norway currently have 133 inpatients with Covid-19 an increase of four from the previous day.
An expert told NRK that a connection is possible between the increase in daily cases and two new, more infectious variants of Covid-19 that have been detected in Norway after initially being identified in other countries.
Health authorities said on Tuesday that one case of a new variant of Covid-19, first detected in South Africa and more contagious than other forms, has been detected in the Nordic country, along with further cases of the B117 variant first reported in the United Kingdom.
READ ALSO: Coronavirus: More infectious variants detected in Norway
“It is absolutely possible, we don’t know yet. But this illustrates that we must be prepared for the unknown that we didn’t think would happen,” Gunnveig Grødeland, a senior researcher in vaccine research and immunology at the University of Oslo, told NRK.
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Capital city Oslo saw a large proportion of the new cases, with 204 registered, while 50 positive tests were recorded in Stavanger.
The total figure, 930, represents an increase of 399 compared to the preceding day and is the highest daily figure registered in Norway since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. It should be noted that testing was less prevalent during the first wave of spring 2020.
Health minister Bent Høie told NRK that the government hopes a recent tightening of restriction will prevent a continuing rise in cases.
“It was this development we were concerned about when we increased restrictions on Sunday,” Høie said.
READ ALSO: These are Norway's coronavirus restrictions from January 4th
“It is now very important that everyone with symptoms is tested and follows recommendations and rules,” Høie added.
Hospitals in Norway currently have 133 inpatients with Covid-19 an increase of four from the previous day.
An expert told NRK that a connection is possible between the increase in daily cases and two new, more infectious variants of Covid-19 that have been detected in Norway after initially being identified in other countries.
Health authorities said on Tuesday that one case of a new variant of Covid-19, first detected in South Africa and more contagious than other forms, has been detected in the Nordic country, along with further cases of the B117 variant first reported in the United Kingdom.
READ ALSO: Coronavirus: More infectious variants detected in Norway
“It is absolutely possible, we don’t know yet. But this illustrates that we must be prepared for the unknown that we didn’t think would happen,” Gunnveig Grødeland, a senior researcher in vaccine research and immunology at the University of Oslo, told NRK.
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