Norway warns against foreign travel until after Easter
Foreign residents in Norway less likely to spend their holidays abroad
Photo: Espen Solli / Wikimedia Commons
Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport is normally bustling with travelers, but travel abroad is now not advised during the time of the coronavirus.
The Local
Authorities in Norway are advising people who live in the country not to travel abroad until after the Easter holiday week.
The advice came as the country’s foreign ministry updated its global travel advisories on Feb. 9.
In a statement, the ministry said it was advising against all non-essential foreign travel until April 15, extending from the previous expiration date of March 1.
“The decision by the government to extend the global travel advice has been made on the basis of a variety of factors, including the global COVID-19 situation, new measures to counter the outbreak of new variants of the virus, the capacity of other countries’ health services, and the travel restrictions that apply in other countries,” the ministry wrote.
“The global travel advice has been employed as a means of exercising infection control throughout the pandemic, alongside the stipulated quarantine requirements and restrictions on entry into Norway,” it added.
More stringent measures introduced by countries as the situation with the virus escalates, which often come into effect at short notice, “together with changes in the availability of flights, can create considerable difficulties for Norwegians traveling abroad,” the ministry also wrote.
The update means that foreign residents who live in Norway are less likely to spend the Easter holidays abroad.
Norway’s health authorities review the coronavirus situation in the Schengen area and EEA weekly updates its global travel advice accordingly.
Currently, only Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland, as well as some areas in Finland, are exempted from the travel advice, which is posted on the website of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
This article originally appeared in the Feb. 26, 2021, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
