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

Erna Solberg self-isolating 

Former PM and Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg is self-isolating after her husband Sindre Finness tested positive for Covid-19. 

The pair are self-isolating separately. Solberg told newspaper VG that she had tested for the virus but had yet to develop any symptoms.  

“I have been tested, and I still have no symptoms,” Solberg told the newspaper. 

Finnes told the paper that he did not know how he became infected or which variant of the virus he tested positive for. 

READ ALSO: What happens in Norway next following the new Covid rules

Highest inflation for 13 years

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 5.1 percent in November, compared to the same month last year. This is the highest rise in inflation over 12 months in 13 years. Core inflation, which is inflation-adjusted for tax changes and excluding rising energy costs, rose to 1.3 percent. 

“We must go 13 years back in time, to October 2008, to find a corresponding twelve-month growth in the CPI. Not surprisingly, it is the still high electricity prices that clearly contribute the most to the upswing,” Trym Kristian Økland told Statistics Norway.

Bergen tightens measures 

Following record infections in the city, Bergen is tightening its Covid rules locally, and all people infected will have to undergo a longer isolation period. 

All Covid cases in the city on the west coast will be treated as if they are the Omicron variant, meaning extended isolation periods for members of the public who test positive for the virus and for close contacts, who will undergo a ten-day quarantine period. 

5,335 new Covid19 cases 

On Thursday, 5,335 Covid cases were registered in Norway, another record for the highest daily recorded cases throughout the pandemic. Over the last seven days, an average of 4,229 coronavirus infections have been registered per day. 

Last week the same average was 3,056. 

In Oslo, 1,150 positive test samples were processed on Thursday. That is 13 more than the day before and another record for the capital. 

Pictured are the total number of weekly cases in Norway since the pandemic began. Source: Norwegian Institute of Public Health.