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Norway Tightens Restrictions on Omicron Spread

Norway Tightens Restrictions on Omicron Spread

Norway is tightening restrictions again to try to regain control of the spread of the omicron variant and prevent an overloading of an hospital system already struggling with other types of illness as winter sets in.

Social distancing and limiting the number of guests in private homes to 10 is recommended again, while bars and restaurants must stop selling alcohol at midnight and face masks are now mandatory where a meter’s distance can’t be maintained, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters on Tuesday.

Norway Tightens Restrictions on Omicron Spread

The restrictions come after about 10 travelers from South Africa tested positive with omicron, with infection spreading further at conferences and parties. There are now 29 confirmed cases of the variant, with 17 in the capital, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said earlier on Tuesday.

The new restrictions aren’t a “game changer for markets,” Danske economists wrote in an email. They are unlikely to pose a significant downside risk to the economy and won’t ease the current constraints in the overall economy, they wrote.

The Nordic nation, which has been among the best to weather Covid-19 over the past year in Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, declined to 11th spot last month.

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