The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Norway has increased by 62 to bring the total to 7,667, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said Wednesday, Trend reports citing TASS.
"Overall, 7,667 people contracted coronavirus," the statement notes. In the last few weeks, the infection increase has been stable and amounted to around 100 new cases per day or less. Moreover, 206 patients died from coronavirus-related issues, while 119 people are hospitalized.
Norway reported its first coronavirus case in late February. The government banned all foreigners who do not hold residency permits from entering the country because of the pandemic and introduced border control on its border within the Schengen Area. Authorities also shut down all preschools, schools and universities in the country. All citizens returning from overseas are obliged to enter a two-week quarantine.
The government earlier this week announced that the country managed to take the outbreak under control. In accordance with the cabinet’s decision, a number of businesses and services will gradually reopen in April - preschools and primary schools will start classes again, students who are in late stages of their degrees will be cleared to go back to universities, hair salons and barbershops will reopen as well as other businesses. Moreover, the ban on travel to country houses is also lifted.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 3,100,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 218,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 959,700 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.