The number of coronavirus infection cases in Norway and Sweden passed 900 overnight, national health authorities said Saturday.
Norway recorded its second death from the coronavirus on Saturday, Oslo University Hospital said on Twitter. Norway’s first case of the virus was confirmed on Feb. 26, since when the total number of infected people has risen to 907, according to the official count by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health fhi.no, updated on Saturday.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health registered 157 new cases over a 24 hour period ending at midnight on Friday, bringing the total to 907.
“223 people were infected in Norway, 646 abroad, and in 38 cases the site of the infection is being clarified,” it said in a situation report.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said her government was considering closing the borders.
Separately, the institute said that Health Director Bjorn Guldvog and several other top managers of the public health agency were in self-quarantine after an employee tested positive for the virus.
The Public Health Agency in neighboring Sweden said 924 people had come down with the COVID-19 viral disease as of Saturday afternoon. Slightly over half of them are men and the median age is 45.
