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COVID-19

Norway tightens travel rules to limit import of Omicron Covid-19 variant

The Norwegian government has introduced new border rules, including a quarantine hotel stay for travellers arriving from parts of Africa, to try and limit the import of the recently discovered Omicron Covid variant.

Pictured is a plane at an airport.
The Norwegian government have introduced new rules to try and limit the import of the Omicron variant into the country. Pictured is a plane on the runway. Photo by Bao Menglong on Unsplash

New Covid testing and quarantine rules were introduced on Saturday to try and prevent the import of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, recently discovered and sequenced in South Africa, into Norway.

Norway is among a slew of countries in Europe that have enforced more rigid travel rules on countries in southern Africa to try and contain the import of the new variant, which experts fear vaccines may be less effective against due to a large number of mutations.

Everyone who arrives in Norway from, or after having stayed in, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) and Malawi will need to test for Covid-19 before travelling to Norway.

In addition, they will need to enter a quarantine hotel and isolate for up to ten days.

Arrivals can move from a quarantine hotel to their own home or another suitable quarantine location after taking a PCR test after day three.

After seven days, travellers will need to take another test. If this test comes back negative, they will be released from quarantine. Quarantine hotels in Norway cost 500 kroner a night for adults and 250 kroner for children aged between 10 and 17.

READ ALSO: EU health agency says Omicron variant poses ‘high to very high’ risk to Europe 

Those who have been in any of those countries after November 16th but arrived in Norway before November 27th will also need to get a PCR test if their most recent test was taken before the 27th.

Direct flights from these countries will also be banned. Diplomats and children under 18 travelling on their own are exempt from the new rules. In these instances, the current rules for non-EEA arrivals will apply.

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TRAVEL NEWS

EasyJet to launch new routes from Oslo and Tromsø

Budget airline EasyJet will return to Norway and has announced seven new routes from Tromsø and a couple of new connections from Oslo.

EasyJet to launch new routes from Oslo and Tromsø

EasyJet will return to Oslo for the first time in a few years with new routes to Milan Malpensa and Paris Charles De Gaule in late October.

The flights will initially run from autumn to spring, with four departures to Milan and three to Paris per week.

In addition to the Oslo routes, seven new routes will be launched from the Arctic capital of Tromsø.

“We are very pleased to welcome easyJet to Norway. Their establishment in Tromsø and Oslo will provide both Norwegian and international travellers with more options and strengthen the connection between Norway and important European destinations,” Joachim Lupnaav Johnsen, Executive Vice President of Commercial Management and Development at Avinor, said.

The new Tromsø routes will connect northern Norway to London-Gatwick, Manchester, Paris-CDG, Milan-Malpensa, Bristol, Geneva, and Amsterdam.

All routes would have two flights a week, starting between mid-November and mid-December and lasting until the end of March.

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