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

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
Find out what's going on in Norway with The Local's short roundup of important news. Pictured is a Norwegian flag of the North Cape. Photo by Barnabas Davoti on Unsplash

A new oil discovery in Norwegian waters and infrastructure failing safety inspections are among the headlines from Norway on Friday. 

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Covid drug to hit Norwegian shelves

The drug Paxlovid, used to treat Covid-19, will be stocked in Norwegian pharmacies from December 8th, Norway’s Minister of Health, Ingvild Kjerkol, has announced. 

The medicine reduces instances of severe illness in those more at risk of developing a serious bout of Covid-19. 

“I am happy that we can now offer corona patients with a high risk of serious illness this treatment. It reduces the risk of a serious course for the individual, in addition to helping to reduce the burden on the health service,” Ingvild Kjerkol said. 

The drug will be used to treat the elderly and those in risk groups. However, the drug offers little benefit to those at low risk of severe disease. 

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New oil discovery in Norwegian waters

Neptune Energy and its license partners have confirmed the discovery of new oil in the Calypso exploration well in the Norwegian Sea.

“Preliminary calculations of recoverable volumes are in the range of 1-3.5 million standard cubic metres, corresponding to 6-22 million barrels of oil equivalent,” the company said in a press release. 

The discovery was made not far from existing oil installations and infrastructure. The firm said that this was cost-effective and led to lower carbon emissions. 

Only four out of fourteen bridges pass the inspection

Following the collapse of a wooden truss bridge in Tretten earlier this year, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration closed 14 bridges until inspections could occur. 

Subsequently, only four of those bridges passed inspections by the roads authority. 

A combination of design and assembly errors were flagged up on several bridges. Four of the ten bridges with flaws have reopened, but with a limited load capacity, Teknisk Ukeblad reports.

November was warm in the south and mild in the north

The month of November was warm in southern Norway and mild in northern Norway, with the exception of Troms. 

All in all, November 2022 was the tenth warmest since measurements began in 1900, the Meteorological Institute writes. 

Some 30 stations across the country, including Svalbard, set the highest average temperature for November. The month was 2.2 degrees warmed than average. In southern Norway with figure reached almost three degrees. 

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