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COVID-19

Queues form at Norwegian borders after new Covid-19 test rules take effect

Long queues at both Oslo Gardermoen airport and the Svinesund border crossing were reported on Friday after new rules requiring all arrivals in Norway to take a Covid-19 test took effect.

Published: 3 December 2021 16:10 CET
Pictured is a Norwegian police officer at the Svinesund border crossing.
Long queues have been reported at some of Norway's busiest borders. Pictured is a Norwegian police officer at the Svinesund border crossing. Photo by Petter Bernsten/ AFP.

New coronavirus testing rules were introduced in Norway on Friday, which meant that all travellers, regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated or have previously been infected with the virus, would need to test after arriving in the country.

In the majority of cases, travellers are expected to take a rapid test at the border and wait at the test station until their results are ready.

This has led to queues and delays at some of the country’s busiest borders, Svinesund, the land border crossing with Sweden, and Oslo Gardermoen airport.

Some people crossing the border at Svinesund were given rapid antigen tests to do at home, news wire NTB reported.

“At the moment, there are long queues, so some people have been sent to test themselves at home within 24 hours… The rules say that you should not spend more than an hour and a half in the testing area, but it still takes some time,” Joestein Stø, from the test centre at Svinesund, told NTB.

READ MORE: Norway tightens Covid-19 testing rules for travellers

Queues have also led to people at Norway’s busiest airport, Gardermoen, being given antigen tests to take at home.

Those given tests to take home will have 24 hours to test themselves. If the test returns positive, they must take a PCR test and isolate until the result is ready.

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HEALTH

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The World Health Organization's European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. And the real figure may be much higher.

Published: 27 June 2023 13:27 CEST
Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

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