Norway: Authorities expand list of "high risk" regions from September 26 /update 15

Event

Norwegian authorities will include new locations in their list of "high risk" regions from Saturday, September 26. From Saturday, Iceland, Lithuania, the Vasterbotten region in Sweden, and the Finnish regions of Central Finland and Paijanne-Hamedue will be included in the country's list of high-risk travel destinations due to an increase in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in those locations. Travelers arriving from these locations must self-isolate for ten days upon arrival from Saturday.

Norway has announced that all travelers arriving into the country from countries with more than 20 confirmed new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the previous two weeks will have to quarantine on arrival. The full list of these countries can be found here.  

As of Friday, September 25, there have been 13,406 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Norway with 270 associated fatalities. Further international spread of the virus is to be expected in the near term.

Context

The first case of COVID-19 was reported on December 31 and the source of the outbreak has been linked to a wet market in Wuhan (Hubei province, China). Since then, human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed.

Cases of the virus have been confirmed in numerous countries and territories worldwide. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the global outbreak a pandemic. Virus-screening and quarantining measures are being implemented at airports worldwide, as well as extensive travel restrictions.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Some patients may experience other symptoms such as body pains, nasal congestion, headache, conjunctivitis, sore throat, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell or a rash on skin or discoloration of fingers or toes. These symptoms (in most cases mild) appear gradually. Generally, most patients (around 80 percent) recover from the disease without being hospitalized.

Advice

Measures adopted by local authorities evolve quickly and are usually effective immediately. Depending on the evolution of the outbreak in other countries, authorities are likely to modify, at very short notice, the list of countries whose travelers are subject to border control measures or entry restrictions upon their arrival to the territory in question. It is advised to postpone nonessential travel due to the risk that travelers may be refused entry or be subject to quarantine upon their arrival or during their stay.

To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, travelers are advised to abide by the following measures:

• Frequently clean hands by applying an alcohol-based hand rub or washing with soap and water.
• When coughing and sneezing, cover mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue; if used, throw the tissue away immediately and wash hands.
• If experiencing a fever, cough, difficulty breathing, or any other symptoms suggestive of respiratory illness, including pneumonia, call emergency services before going to the doctor or hospital to prevent the potential spread of the disease.