Tag Archives: COVID-19

Reuters: Norway PM says will not ease COVID-19 restrictions yet

Business News, Government, , ,

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway will not yet ease restrictions designed to counter the novel coronavirus even though the spread has been slower recently, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Friday.

“Even if the infection numbers are coming down, we can’t say that we have landed safely yet… we have to be sure that we maintain control,” Solberg told a news conference.

To prevent a resurgence in COVID-19 infections, the country halted its planned easing of restrictions earlier this month, and imposed new measures such a ban on bars to serve alcohol after midnight.

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SSB: The decline in the Norwegian economy in the second quarter was the deepest ever recorded

Business News,

Seasonally adjusted figures from the national accounts show that Mainland Norway’s GDP rose 3.7 per cent in June, after 2.2 per cent growth in May. The level of activity was still just under 6 per cent lower in June than in February, due to large declines in March and April. Growth in the second quarter ended at -6.3 percent.

Activity in the Norwegian economy fell sharply after the introduction of infection control measures on 12 March. Mainland Norway’s GDP fell 7.3 per cent in March and another 4.1 per cent in April. The decline was particularly strong in many service industries.

Following a gradual reopening of society, activity increased markedly in May and June. The largest contribution to the June growth came from health and social work. This is mainly due to activity in the hospitals returning to normal levels.

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Forbes: Norway Clamps Down As Coronavirus Cases Rise, Face Masks A Possibility

Business News, Government, ,

Following a rise in positive COVID-19 tests over the last two weeks, the Norwegian government has extended its emergency measures and introduced some new restrictions.

Ban on large events, late-night alcohol

The maximum limit of 200 people at events is to be retained, as will the ban on grass-roots sports. There is also a new a nationwide ban on alcohol serving after midnight in bars and pubs until further notice. “There is a connection between alcohol consumption and how you behave,” said Norway’s prime minister Erna Solberg to Dagbladet.

Travelers arriving in Norway from so-called “red” countries will be required to wear face masks until their reach their home. In addition, the government is now advising against all unnecessary travel outside Norway.

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KelloggInsight: What Astronauts Can Teach Us about Working Remotely

Business News, ,

What happens to teamwork during extended periods of isolation and confinement?

While that sounds like a question tailored for much of today’s housebound workforce, it’s actually a research topic that professors Noshir Contractor and Leslie DeChurch have studied in an entirely different context: space travel.

The researchers never thought “that we would be drawing conclusions from space teams to our teams here on Earth,” DeChurch says.

But they did just that during a recent webinar from Kellogg Executive Education. Contractor, a professor of management and organizations at Kellogg, and DeChurch, a professor in Northwestern’s School of Communication, discussed their research with NASA, and shared some insights that workers and leaders can use to help remote teams function cohesively.

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Time Magazine: Erna Solberg on How Norway Is Reopening With Cautious Optimism: ‘We Know Where the Risk Points Are’

Business News, Government, , ,

When COVID-19 started rapidly spreading throughout Europe in March, Norway was hard hit. But under Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s leadership, the country quickly adopted strict lockdown measures and ramped up testing. Five months later, Norway now enjoys one of the lowest fatality rates in Europe.

“This is the rainiest day Norway has had since the 1930s,” Solberg said during a TIME 100 Talks discussion with International Editor Dan Stewart. “But I think, in a way, we were lucky in the unluck that we had.”

Read the entire interview HERE.

Bloomberg: Masters of $1 Trillion Fund Reap Rewards of a Very Good Idea

Business News, Financial / Investment, Government, , , ,

In one of the world’s richest countries, the finance minister may soon need to break the spending record he just set.

For Jan Tore Sanner, the 55-year-old who’s been running Norway’s finances since January, that’s not really a problem thanks to a couple of choices his country made a while back.

 

Reuters: Norway pledges $1 billion to vaccines against COVID-19, other diseases

Business News, Government, Health, , , ,

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway will give $1 billion to support the distribution worldwide of any vaccine developed against COVID-19 as well as for vaccines against other diseases, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Monday.

Oslo made the pledge as part of a donor conference held on Monday by the European Union to raise 7.5 billion euros ($8.23 billion) towards the testing, treatment and prevention of the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Non-EU member Norway is a co-chair of the event as a long-standing donor to global health initiatives.

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Regjeringen: Koronapandemien hovedtema i samtale med Pompeo

Business News, Government, , ,

Utenriksminister Ine Eriksen Søreide skulle denne uken ha besøkt Washington, D.C. for samtaler med blant andre utenriksminister Mike Pompeo. I stedet møtte hun i dag sin amerikanske kollega til en telefonsamtale.

Håndteringen av Covid-19 var en av hovedsakene i utenriksministerens samtale med Pompeo.

– USA er spesielt hardt rammet av pandemien, men Covid-19 har store konsekvenser for alle land og for det globale fellesskapet. Mitt hovedbudskap til utenriksminister Pompeo var at grenseoverskridende kriser som denne må håndteres gjennom internasjonalt samarbeid. Vi var enige om at fortsatt tett samarbeid mellom allierte vil være av stor betydning i tiden som kommer. Utvikling av vaksiner er høyt prioritert av både Norge og USA. Vi deler bekymringen for desinformasjon og propaganda under Covid-19, sier utenriksministeren. 

Les hele saken HER.

Washington Post: Upbeat news on a possible coronavirus treatment powers U.S. stocks, lifting Dow more than 500 points

Business News, Financial / Investment, Health, ,

Small but significant scientific advances against covid-19 sent stocks bursting upward Wednesday, all but ignoring sobering data that shows a U.S. economy in paralysis.

Stocks are on pace for one of their best months in decades as the United States ramps up coronavirus testing and states take steps to emerge from the weeks-long lockdown.

Wednesday’s rally picked up steam after Gilead Sciences reported “positive data” coming from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ clinical trial of its investigational remdesivir treatment for covid-19. The company said “the trial has met its primary endpoint.”

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Keeping Trade Open: Where Do US Medical Products Really Come From?

Business News, Health, , ,

The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted a heavy toll on the United States in lost lives and mounting economic hardship. While our resilience is unquestionable, the pandemic has laid bare the inadequacies of some aspects of U.S. preparedness, and policy changes are clearly warranted.

But will we embrace the right solutions? 

A number of lawmakers have introduced legislation to address some shortcomings. Several of these proposals proceed from the idea that the United States is dangerously dependent on Chinese medical products. While some of these bills adopt a deliberative approach, others call for quick action to compel firms to “reshore” production of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.

Before policymakers charge ahead, it’s imperative that we start by identifying the real problems — and then devise the right solutions. 

Read entire article HERE.