Norway's government is preparing legislation that would allow it to introduce curfews after new Covid-19 cases hit record levels, Justice Minister Monica Maeland has said.

“But let me make immediately clear that as of today, we are not considering to introduce a curfew or anything resembling a curfew [...] this is something we hope will never become necessary,” Maeland told a news conference, according to Reuters.

Norway had 930 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, the highest daily number on record, according to data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI).

“A curfew will only become an option in extreme circumstances such as a very high infection rate and a risk that the health system will collapse,” Maeland said.