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Oslo relaxes Covid restrictions with shops and malls to reopen

Retail and shopping malls will reopen in Oslo from Thursday while bars, restaurants and gyms will reopen later in May, the city’s mayor announced on Wednesday.

Published: 5 May 2021 16:33 CEST
Oslo relaxes Covid restrictions with shops and malls to reopen
Oslo Opera House. Photo by Oliver Cole on Unsplash

The Norwegian capital will adopt a phased approach to the second step of its five-step plan for reopening and relaxing Coronavirus measures. This means that only a few of the measures mentioned as part of step two would be introduced for now.

“I am pretty sure that the population of Oslo does not want us to take big risks with the reopening,” Mayor Raymond Johansen said.

“If we have to close down again as soon as we open, then the reopening would have been for nothing. Many other cities have had to do this,” he added. 

The first phase of step two includes:

  • Shopping malls and stores can open from May 6th.
  • Kindergartens and primary schools will move to yellow level from May 10th.
  • Oslo municipal library will gradually begin reopening.
  • Cultural activities will be moved from step three to later during step two.
  • Elderly homes will gradually begin easing measures and returning to normal operations.

Stores have been closed in Oslo since March 2nd while shopping centres have been closed since the end of January. 

READ MORE:,‘Life as we remember’: Oslo reveals five-step plan for reopening

If infections stay low, the city will look at implementing the remainder of step two, which includes reopening hospitality with alcohol service, gyms, museums, and more.

“If the situation with infection, hospitalisations and vaccines continues positively, those who run restaurants, bars, museums, cinemas, theatres and other cultural venues can start preparing for a gradual reopening in a few weeks,” Johansen said.

The second phase of step two will be assessed around May 20th, the mayor said. Step two would see:

  • Cafes and restaurants reopen
  • Alcohol service in hospitality until 10pm.
  • Gyms and sports centres
  • Organised sports outdoors for adults
  • Cultural sites like museums, galleries and libraries reopen
  • Leisure clubs for up to 20 people
  • Worship services with fixed designated seating for 20 people at a time

On Tuesday, 123 new corona infections were registered, 24 fewer than on the same day last week. 

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

READ ALSO: 

People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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