[1] In March 2020, a senior Norwegian Institute of Public Health consultant said one of the major reasons why the mortality rate was significantly lower than in other European countries (such as Italy, Spain, the UK) was the high number of tests performed in Norway.

[8] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who had initially come to the attention of the WHO on 31 December 2019.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health announced that someone tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after returning from China the previous week.

[15] On 28 February, an individual from Bergen and an employee of Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål, tested positive and were placed in home isolation.

Mahad Ahmed Musse, the Chief of the Ullevål hospital in Oslo, stated that there are potentially over 100 people who came in contact with an infected staff member.

Norwegian and Nordic citizens, foreign residents in Norway and people continuing to another country are allowed anyway.

[27] On 6 April, the Norwegian Health Minister announced that the outbreak was "under control" and that the reproduction rate of Sars-CoV-2 had dwindled to 0.7 in the country.

[28] An outbreak of coronavirus on the MS Roald Amundsen ship infected at least five passengers and thirty-six crew.

Health authorities fear the ship could have infected dozens of towns and villages along Norway's western coast.

In April 2021, daily newspaper Aftenposten reported that one in four flights from Dubai and Istanbul to Oslo Airport carried infected passengers.

[37]As one of Erna Solberg's last acts as Prime Minister after the parliamentary election, Norway officially reopened on 25 September, with most restrictions being lifted.

[40] As of 19 March, residents were prohibited from staying in cabins outside their home municipalities, in order to avoid putting strain on rural medical infrastructure.

All of the cases with potential links to the vaccine reported as of 14 January occurred among severely frail elderly people with serious diseases.

[44][45] As an average of 300 to 400 people die each week in nursing homes in Norway, the Norwegian Medicines Agency expected that deaths close to the time of injection may occur, and is carrying out in-depth analyses to find any link with the vaccine.

It is possible that common side effects aggravated pre-existing conditions in some patients, but no statistical analyses have shown an increase in the death rate of vaccinated people.

This should allow for a good overview of the situation once the vaccine is distributed in the general population, as well as an efficient collaboration with other countries.