Norway reports first coronavirus fatality

Norway has reported its first death from the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Erna Solberg said "an elderly person" died on Thursday in Oslo. She, however, did not elaborate further.

Protectively, King Harald V, members of the royal family and some government members have been put in quarantine because they had travelled abroad in recent weeks.

In Denmark, lawmakers have passed a temporary law under which authorities can force people who are suspected of having the virus to undergo tests.

The law, which is to expire in March 2021, also gives authorities the ability to ban access to public places and stores.

The Danish government has already closed all schools and daycare facilities and ordered government workers who do not perform critical functions to stay home for the next two weeks.

Denmark's popular Queen Margrethe has cancelled all events around her 80th birthday on April 16.