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

Coronavirus restrictions in schools tightened

Measures in schools will move to either yellow or red level depending on whether they are primary or secondary level. Adult education centres and vocational colleges will also be at red level. 

Yellow level means social distancing, assigned seating plans for each student, no physical contact between individuals and minimising mixing between different classes to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Red level sees measures such as much smaller class sizes or cohorts and partial online schooling being implemented. 

The restrictions were announced on Monday in a bid to curb rising Covid-19 cases. 

Not all schools in the country have welcomed the measures, though. In Oslo, all schools will switch to digital teaching as they cannot correctly implement the new restrictions with current staff absence levels. 

Seven out of ten facing higher grid rent next year 

Grid rent, the price energy providers charge to deliver electricity to your homes, will be calculated under a new model from January, and up to 70 percent could wind up paying more than they currently do. 

The figure that the vast majority would pay more in grid rent comes from an analysis from Guldbrandsal Energi. The company used the consumption of its 48,000 customers over the last 12 months as the basis for its figures. 

However, it wasn’t all bad news as the firm found that 40 percent of customers could avoid higher bills by reducing their consumption. Additionally, those in Trøndaleg are expected to pay less in grid rent too. 

READ ALSO: This is how much electricity in Norway will cost this winter

5,741 Covid-19 cases 

On Wednesday, 5,741 new Covid-19 cases were registered in Norway. This is 482 more infections than the same day the week before. 

Over the last seven days, an average of 4,925 positive test samples have been recorded. The same average a week before was 4,055. 

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

Covid-19 certificate to be required to enter Sweden

Sweden will require travellers from Norway and the other Nordic countries to present a valid Covid-19 certificate to enter the country. 

Norwegians will also be expected to follow the same Christmas rules in Sweden that apply in Norway. 

“Do not move the party across the border,” Sweden’s PM, Magdalene Andersson, told news wire TT.  The new rule will apply from December 21st.

Under current rules, everyone travelling to Sweden needs to show either an EU vaccine certificate or a vaccine certificate from a so-called “approved” country, alternatively a negative test no older than 72 hours or proof of recovery from Covid-19 – the exact rules depend on which country you’re travelling from, and some categories of travellers are exempt from the rules.