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Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday 

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday 
A street sign is seen reading "Norway" in both Norwegian and Swedish languages on the old bridge of Svinesund, Sweden, on May 1, 2021. - They haven't been allowed to have each other over for a year because of Covid. So come rain or shine, two 73-year-old Swedish twins have met every Saturday, each on their side of the border, on a bridge that links Norway and Sweden. (Photo by Petter BERNTSEN / AFP)

Find out what’s going on in Norway on Wednesday with The Local’s short roundup of important news. 

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All border crossings with Sweden reopen

All of Norway’s border crossings with neighbours Sweden officially reopened at midnight on Wednesday. 

Work had been underway in recent days to remove the barriers between Norway and Sweden at border crossings. 

Travellers who are required to get tested as part of their travels to Sweden will need to travel to a crossing with a testing station such as Svinesund or Storskog. Police will be carrying out checks at the other crossings.

The border between Norway and Sweden stretches a full 1630 kilometres from Iddefjorden in the south to Treriksrøysen in Storfjord in the north and includes the border with Finland and Russia.

The border between Norway and Sweden is the longest and oldest of two countries in Europe. 

“It will be fantastic with reopening. I do not think Erna has understood how many practical problems this has created for us,” Gunnar Mosling, a resident who lives near the border and whose trip to the post office became 80 kilometres instead of 800 metres due to the border closure, told newspaper VG

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Plain Snus packaging has had no effect

Standardized tobacco packaging has had no effect on decreasing the number of people who use the products. 

A new study conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) found that plain packaging has had a minimal effect. 

READ MORE: What is snus and why do so many Norwegians use it?

“The development in tobacco use among young people is probably dependent on other factors related to the youth culture, rather than what the packages look like,” researcher, Thorleif Halkjelsvik, told public broadcaster NRK

The researcher added that he didn’t expect plan packaging to have an effect. 

“It is difficult to expect anything from such a measure. I never thought that such measures would directly affect the use of snus and smoke,” he said. 

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Norway has given away more Covid-19 vaccine doses than have been used in the country 

Norway has given away 31 million coronavirus vaccines during the pandemic, more than it has used in its own vaccination program, according to health minister Bent Høie. 

According to Høie, an agreement has been reached in which Norway can contribute 3 million doses of the single-use Janssen vaccine to other countries through the vaccine sharing program Covax. 

“In total, our contribution corresponds to 31 million vaccine doses to other countries,” he said at a government press conference. 

582 new Covid infections 

On Tuesday, 582 Covid-19 infections in Norway were registered, 120 fewer than the same day last week but more than the seven-day average of 472. 

In Oslo, 152 cases of infection have been registered. 

Total number of Covid-19 infections. Source: NIPH.

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