Norway widens capital region's lockdown to combat pandemic

OSLO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The Norwegian government will widen the capital region's coronavirus lockdown from Monday onwards, increasing the number of affected municipalities to 25 from the 10 that were initially included, health minister Bent Hoeie said on Sunday.

Oslo and nine neighbouring municipalities imposed some of their toughest lockdown measures yet on Saturday after an outbreak of a more contagious coronavirus variant, first identified in Britain, closing all non-essential stores.

The 15 municipalities that were added on Sunday will see somewhat less strict measures however, as they are located further away from the outbreak, closing fewer stores, maintaining school class sizes and keeping restaurants open.

"We believe it can be possible to stop the spread of this virus variant," Hoeie told a news conference.

Separately, in a reversal of policy, Oslo's state-run wine and liquor monopoly retail stores will reopen on Monday. The closure on Saturday had triggered an exodus to nearby towns of shoppers keen to secure a supply of alcohol.

As of Sunday, Norway had identified 70 cases of the virus variant that has already spread widely in Britain, up from 55 the previous day, data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health showed. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Nerijus Adomaitis)