Norway’s capital Oslo and nine neighboring municipalities will impose some of their toughest lockdown measures yet after an outbreak of a more contagious coronavirus variant, first identified in Britain, the government has said.

Shopping centres and other non-essential stores will be closed from noon local time today, for the first time in the pandemic, and will not reopen until Feb 1 at the earliest, Reuters reported.

Shops selling food will remain open, along with pharmacies and petrol stations.

Organised sports activities will be halted, restaurants must close and schools must rely more on remote learning, while private households were asked not to have any visitors at home.