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

Highest ever daily number of Covid-19 infections in Norway 

On Tuesday, 2,126 people tested positive for Covid-19, the highest number of daily cases recorded since the pandemic began in Norway. 

The number of cases registered on Tuesday is over 500 more than the day before and considerably higher than the average for the previous seven days, which is 1,396. 

As of yesterday, 187 patients were hospitalised with Covid-19, 11 fewer than the day before, 45 patients are in intensive care, and 19 are on respirators. 

In Oslo, 400 cases of infection were registered. 

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Norway throughout the pandemic. Source: Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

New national Covid-19 measures could be on the way

The health director at the Norwegian Directorate of Health, Bjørn Guldvog, announced Tuesday that he would recommend new national infection measures due to rising infection rates and increasing pressure on the health service. 

“Now we see that the curves are heading upwards at full speed. It will, in a short time, affect planned activity in hospitals and many other patients. There it is necessary to go through the measures and see if we can adjust it a bit,” Guldvog told public broadcaster NRK. 

Guldvog emphasised that it didn’t necessarily mean a return to previous measures. Some of the strategies he could suggest would include random testing at the border and more testing for unvaccinated health care workers who have lots of patient contact.

Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol said that the government was prepared to take swift action regarding new Covid rules and advice if they are recommended. 

“We have given an assignment to our agencies to continuously assess the need for regional and national measures. If we receive recommendations on this, we will quickly take a decision on this,” Kjerkol told newswire NTB.

Norwegian Institute of Public Health recommends authorities prioritise Covid boosters over flu jab

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) has advised municipalities with limited test capacity to prioritise giving Covid-19 booster jabs to over 65’s over the flu vaccine. 

Last month the NIPH recommended the opposite. However, they have now changed their advice due to rising Covid-19 cases. 

READ ALSO: How to get the flu vaccine in Norway

“If a municipality has limited vaccination capacity, we first ask them to vaccinate the elderly over 65 years with a refresher dose of a Covid-19 vaccine before they vaccinate the same with influenza vaccine,” Preben Aavitsland, chief physician at the NIPH, told newspaper Dagbladet. 

Increasing differences between 5th-grade boys and girls

The differences between boys and girls in 5th grade have increased with girls favouring reading and boys performing better at maths. This is according to test result data provided by the Directorate of Education.

The test data also showed that 5th graders are performing better in English too. 

Among 8th graders, there are fewer and smaller differences between boys and girls.