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

Report: Nordic travel document should be implemented

A new report has concluded that Norway shouldn’t have completely closed its borders with other Nordic countries during the pandemic. 

The report was presented by the Nordic Council, the official body for inter-parliamentary co-operation between the Nordics, on Wednesday.

The report also suggested a common travel document for Nordic citizens that allows them entry in and out of one another’s countries despite crises. 

“A common Nordic travel document must be introduced which enables Nordic citizens to travel freely despite civilian crises. It should not be a technical problem to solve,” the report that the Nordic Council presented suggested. 

READ ALSO: Why does Norway face a shortage of Swedish workers?

The report also stated that it wouldn’t be difficult to implement a universal travel certificate. 

Ruter has enough money to operate its routes until April

Ruter has enough money to run its existing public transport routes and services until April 1st in Viken and slightly longer in Oslo, CEO of Ruter, Bernt Reitan Jenssen, has informed public broadcaster NRK. 

Yesterday Executive Mayor of Oslo, Raymond Johansen, said that the Ruter could be forced to cut back its services if passenger numbers don’t pick up due to dwindling revenue. 

“We try to maintain the routes offered, both availability and frequency. But Ruter is now struggling with a lack of ticket revenues and is dependent on the passengers returning so that we do not have to cut back,” Johansen told newspaper VG.

A final decision on cuts will be made no later than after a board meeting on December 17th. 

National measures may be ‘relevant’ if local measures don’t stop Covid-19 infection 

Infections in Norway are rising and are at their highest level in two months. Espen Nakstad, assistant health director at the Norwegian Directorate of Health, has said that while there are no plans to introduce any national rules, it could be relevant in the future. 

“We currently have no plans to introduce new national councils or measures from the Norwegian Directorate of Health right now because we first want to see the effect of the municipal measures,” he explained to VG. 

He also cautioned that if localised measures weren’t effective, it might be relevant to introduce national rules. 

“If the effect of local measures is not good enough, it may be relevant,” he said. 

1,514 new Covid infections

On Wednesday, 1,514 people tested positive for Covid-19. This is 416 more registered infections than the average for the previous seven days, which is 1,098. 167 patients are currently hospitalised with Covid-19. 

In Oslo, 356 Covid-19 cases were recorded. This is 38 more than on Wednesday and 162 more than the same day last week.

A graph showing the number of reported Covid-19 cases in Norway. Source: Norwegian Institute of Public Health.