Shutdown is on the cards, Swedes told
Sweden has warned that it could be forced to shut down shopping centres, restaurants, gyms and swimming pools as cases spike.
Sweden has warned that it could be forced to shut down shopping centres, restaurants, gyms and swimming pools as it attempts to ward off a third wave.
Those who break Swedish coronavirus rules could also be fined $300 in the first serious penalty for violating restrictions, the government announced.
The country’s infection rate has dropped substantially since the peak of the second wave in December, but progress has ground to a halt and appears to have gone into reverse in some parts of the country. It emerged on Wednesday that the number of cases in Stockholm had risen by almost a quarter within a week.
“I know we all feel a strong yearning for normality,” Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren said. “But the situation in Sweden is still serious. The infections are spreading at a fast rate.
“There is a significant risk of a third wave of infections. We have no information about the shutdowns today ... but it’s clear that we don’t want to wait until it’s too late.”
Sweden has largely avoided the lockdown measures that have been imposed across most of Europe. It has recorded 12,569 COVID-19 deaths, a per capita mortality rate ten times higher than Norway and Finland, and roughly the same as France’s.
Over recent months it has begun to introduce tougher restrictions, limiting public gatherings to eight people and enacting an infection control law that in theory provides the legal foundation for a form of lockdown.
The regulations that are being drawn up by the government would give it the power to close most shops except pharmacies, health centres, supermarkets and other grocery stores. There may also be a ceiling on the number of people who can take part in sports competitions or arts events.
The infection rate is now rising in six of Sweden’s 21 administrative districts, possibly fuelled by the spread of the more contagious UK variant, which is thought to account for at least one in ten new cases.
On Thursday also emerged that Sweden had detected its first cluster of the B.1.351 mutant strain from South Africa, which may be more resistant to vaccination than other forms of the virus. Twenty people in Vastmanland, a county west of Stockholm, have been infected with the strain.
In Vastra Gotaland, the county around Gothenburg in the west, the local authority said on Thursday it would oblige people to wear facemasks on public transport and in some indoor spaces such as hair salons.
The Times
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