'Vaccine Rollout Begins' Norway Eases Lockdown... Restaurants Resume Operations

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The Norwegian government plans to gradually ease lockdown measures taken in the metropolitan area to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

On the 30th (local time), the Norwegian Ministry of Health announced that from the 3rd of next month, some stores such as street shops, excluding shopping malls, will reopen.

Restaurants will also open, but alcoholic beverages cannot be sold. Some restrictions will be eased, including expanded in-person classes at schools. Restrictions on entry for non-essential purposes such as travel or visiting relatives will continue until the 11th of next month.

Norway recently strengthened lockdown measures, including closing non-essential business stores in the capital Oslo and nearby areas, after detecting cases of the variant virus first identified in the UK within the country, and restricted entry of all non-residents except for some exceptions.

The Norwegian Ministry of Health emphasized that the situation in the metropolitan area remains uncertain, and therefore the easing of lockdown will be carried out gradually.

According to the international statistics site Worldometer, as of this date, Norway has a cumulative total of 62,713 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 564 deaths.

Norway began administering the Pfizer vaccine on the 27th of last month, and as of this date, around 50,000 people out of the total population of approximately 5.46 million have completed vaccination.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.