As Norway celebrated its first weekend free of Covid-19 restrictions, police claim they responded to dozens of mass brawls and other violent conflicts and disruptions.
The Norwegian government surprised the country's 5.3 million residents on Friday. It announced that all remaining restrictions, including nightclub closures, social distancing, and business capacity limitations, would be lifted starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
"It has been 561 days since we introduced the toughest measures in Norway in peacetime," Prime Minister Erna Solberg said at a press conference on Friday.
"Now the time has come to return to a normal daily life."
Massive crowds celebrated their newfound freedoms around the country on Saturday afternoon, filling streets, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs well into the night.
However, the overabundance of excitement resulted in tumultuous scenes in numerous locations, including Oslo, where police reported at least 50 fights and disturbances on Saturday night as huge lines formed outside bars, restaurants, and nightclubs on their first night of business.
People have been reported passing out while waiting to enter pubs in Trondheim's central city, while trouble has also been recorded in Bergen.
In Oslo, police responded to reports of a guy on a bus wielding a machete.
As the celebrations began in the afternoon and continued far into the night, police spokesperson Rune Hekkelstrand said they were dealing with a "significantly greater workload" on Saturday than they had experienced over the summer.
Many have blamed the slaughter on the Norwegian government's unexpected removal of restrictions, which few expected.
According to the Associated Press, Oslo nightclub manager Johan Hoeeg Haanes told Norwegian daily VG, "That's exactly what I predicted would happen,"
"Because they (the government) didn't give us at least a few days' notice, it was a life-threatening situation in the city. This was a potentially dangerous situation, according the authorities, because all of the venues were completely full."
Outgoing Ms. Solberg, on the other hand, defended the government's decision, claiming that the country's health specialists backed it up.
On Saturday, she told VG, "We shall not have strict measures unless they are professionally justified,"
"People must be allowed to live as they wish."
According to official numbers provided by the Associated Press, more than 76 percent of Norwegians have received their first Covid-19 vaccine shot, and about 70 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.
Before accessing nightclubs in Norway, people are not obliged to show their vaccination status or produce a negative Covid-result.
People are no longer warned against traveling elsewhere in Europe as part of the country's reopening, and culture and sports venues can reopen to full capacity.
On the other hand, the government continues to encourage Norwegians to get vaccinated, with Ms. Solberg stressing that Covid-19 was not yet eradicated.
"Even though everyday life is now back to normal for most people, the pandemic is not over," she said during a press conference on Friday.
"People will still get sick and, therefore, it is important that everyone gets vaccinated."
