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

Schools in Oslo switch to online teaching 

All schools, vocational colleges and adult education centres in Oslo will switch to digital teaching from today until the Christmas holidays. Kindergartens will remain open. 

Oslo Municipality has switched to online classes as it would have struggled to properly implement Covid measures introduced into Schools on Thursday due to staffing issues and many teachers being in quarantine. 

“The situation in Oslo’s schools is now under pressure. Many employees are absent due to illness or quarantine. In addition, many parents are worried that their children will be infected just before Christmas,” Robert Steen, health councillor for Oslo, said.

Government to invest 1 billion into hydrogen

State-owned firm Enova, which is responsible for offering subsidies and financial support to homes and company’s switching to greener energy, will split a one billion investment in Hydrogen energy among three companies. 

Yara Norway will receive up to 283 million, Tizir Titanium and Iron will receive 261 million, and Horizon Energy will benefit from a 482 million kroner investment. 

Water vapour is the only emission emitted when using hydrogen as a fuel. 

PM Jonas Gahr Støre said the investment was a sign the government was delivering on promises made at the COP26 climate summit last month. 

“What we do here today is deliver on the agenda from Glasgow where the message was to translate words into action,” the PM said. 

Energy bills package agreed by the government and the Socialist Left Party 

At a press conference on Friday morning, the government and Socialist Left Party announced that they had decided on a financial support package to help homes struggling with electricity bills. 

Earlier this week, the government proposed a scheme in which it said it would foot half the electricity bill when the average spot price exceeds 70 øre per kilowatt-hour. The scheme was set to run between December and March. 

The share of the bill that the government would cover will rise to 55 percent, and a controversial change to grid rent which could have seen some households paying more, will be postponed. 

4,520 new Covid-19 cases 

On Thursday, 4,520 coronavirus infections were registered in Norway. That is 835 fewer infections than the same day last the week before. 

Over the last seven days, an average of 4,805 infections have been registered per day. The same average a week before was 4,229. 

Pictured above is the total number of weekly cases in Norway throughout the pandemic. Source: Norwegian Institute of Public Health.