Mass brawls reported in Norway as country celebrates lifting of Covid restrictions
Norwegian police have reported dozens of unrest and violent clashes, including mass brawls after streets, bars, restaurants and nightclubs were filled with people celebrating the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
The Norwegian government announced on Friday that most of the remaining restrictions on coronaviruses will be removed from Saturday and life will return to normal.
The move included lifting social distancing rules and business capacity limits, as well as reopening nightclubs.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s unexpected announcement on Friday afternoon took many Norwegians by surprise and led to chaotic scenes in the capital Oslo and elsewhere in the country on Saturday.
Rowdy celebrations across Norway by hundreds of citizens began on Saturday afternoon and lasted until the early hours of Sunday.
Police said unrest had been reported in several places, including the southern city of Bergen and the central city of Trondheim, while the situation was worse in Oslo. Norwegian police recorded at least 50 fights and disturbances overnight.
Long lines were seen outside Oslo nightclubs, bars and restaurants on Saturday evening. Neither vaccination status certificates nor negative test results for Covid-19 were required to enter such sites in Norway.
“This is exactly what I predicted,” an angry Oslo nightclub manager Johan Hoeeg Haanes told Norwegian newspaper VG. “It was a potentially fatal situation in the city because they [the government] didn’t give us at least a few days notice. It was a dangerous situation as the police said all places were crowded. “
Machete alert
Among other incidents, Norwegian media reported that police received an alert about a man carrying a machete on a bus in Oslo and people passed out while waiting to enter pubs in Trondheim.
“There was a much greater workload [on Saturday] only during the summer. It was already very crowded in the afternoon and it continued into the night, ”Oslo police spokesman Rune Hekkelstrand told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
Ms Solberg responded to criticism of the sudden decision to reopen the company, saying Norwegian health experts backed the measure.
“We will not have a strict [coronavirus] measures, unless they are professionally justified. People must be allowed to live as they wish, ”Ms. Solberg said on Saturday evening in a comment to VG.
Norway is the second country in the Nordic region to take action to lift remaining Covid-19 restrictions after Denmark did so on September 10.
More than 76% of Norway’s 5.3 million people have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 70% have received both doses, according to official figures. – AP / Reuters