https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Sweden in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Sweden's health minister Jakob Forssmed and head of department at the Public Health Agency Sara Byfors on Thursday announced a negative test requirement for travellers arriving in Sweden from China, in effect from January 7th. https://www.thelocal.se/20230105/sweden-introduces-testing-requirement-for-travellers-from-china Thu, 05 Jan 2023 10:52:53 +0100 sweden-introduces-testing-requirement-for-travellers-from-china Covid-19 cases are once again escalating in more than a hundred countries, including Sweden, with the new Omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5, both harder to track and more resistant to vaccines. Should we be worried? https://www.thelocal.se/20220705/should-we-be-concerned-about-the-covid-variants-surging-in-sweden Tue, 05 Jul 2022 23:25:40 +0200 should-we-be-concerned-about-the-covid-variants-surging-in-sweden A resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Europe, this time driven by new, fast-spreading Omicron subvariants, is once again threatening to disrupt people's summer plans. https://www.thelocal.se/20220622/covid-subvariants-cast-shadow-over-european-summer Wed, 22 Jun 2022 18:08:14 +0200 covid-subvariants-cast-shadow-over-european-summer The mandatory EU-wide mask requirement for air travel is set to be dropped from Monday, May 16th, but airlines may still require passengers to wear masks on some or all flights https://www.thelocal.se/20220511/face-mask-rule-on-flights-in-europe-set-to-be-eased Wed, 11 May 2022 18:17:55 +0200 face-mask-rule-on-flights-in-europe-set-to-be-eased The assumptions Sweden's Public Health Agency made at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic were "fundamentally wrong", and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven should have shown "true leadership" and ordered the agency to change course, the chair of Sweden's Covid-19 inquiry has told The Local. https://www.thelocal.se/20220311/like-generals-fighting-the-last-war-how-sweden-got-covid-19-wrong Fri, 11 Mar 2022 17:07:33 +0100 like-generals-fighting-the-last-war-how-sweden-got-covid-19-wrong Sweden's decision to rely on voluntary measures rather than a strict lockdown to handle the Covid-19 pandemic was "fundamentally correct", but its measures were too weak and too late, the final report by the Coronavirus Commission concludes. https://www.thelocal.se/20220225/swedens-pandemic-strategy-fundamentally-correct-coronavirus-commission Fri, 25 Feb 2022 13:37:28 +0100 swedens-pandemic-strategy-fundamentally-correct-coronavirus-commission From February 9th it is possible to travel to Sweden from the rest of the EU without showing a Covid vaccine pass or negative test. https://www.thelocal.se/20220207/sweden-to-scrap-all-covid-border-restrictions-for-eu-travellers Mon, 07 Feb 2022 20:24:59 +0100 sweden-to-scrap-all-covid-border-restrictions-for-eu-travellers Sweden lifted almost all Covid-19 restrictions on Wednesday. We asked The Local's readers how they feel about this, and got over 100 responses – here's what they told us. https://www.thelocal.se/20220209/how-do-international-residents-feel-about-sweden-lifting-covid-restrictions Wed, 09 Feb 2022 08:46:24 +0100 how-do-international-residents-feel-about-sweden-lifting-covid-restrictions The Swedish government announced plans to remove the majority of restrictions against Covid-19 on February 9th in a press conference on Thursday morning. https://www.thelocal.se/20220203/breaking-swedish-government-will-lift-covid-19-restrictions-on-february-9th Thu, 03 Feb 2022 09:34:05 +0100 breaking-swedish-government-will-lift-covid-19-restrictions-on-february-9th Sweden’s Public Health Agency now recommends shortening the interval between the second and third dose of the Covid vaccine from five to three months. https://www.thelocal.se/20220201/sweden-cuts-waiting-period-for-covid-booster-to-three-months Tue, 01 Feb 2022 10:13:58 +0100 sweden-cuts-waiting-period-for-covid-booster-to-three-months Sweden has extended its border restrictions until the end of March for non-EU arrivals, and removed visitors from Argentina, Australia and Canada from the list of exemptions. https://www.thelocal.se/20220127/sweden-extends-entry-ban-for-non-eu-eea-travellers-until-spring Thu, 27 Jan 2022 15:24:35 +0100 sweden-extends-entry-ban-for-non-eu-eea-travellers-until-spring Sweden may lift most of its Covid restrictions starting February 9th, if the ongoing outbreak of the Omicron variant peaks by then and vaccinations continue apace, Health Minister Lena Hallengren told a press conference on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.se/20220126/sweden-sets-tentative-date-for-lifting-covid-restrictions Wed, 26 Jan 2022 14:24:26 +0100 sweden-sets-tentative-date-for-lifting-covid-restrictions The region of Västra Götaland - where Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city, is located - reported 44,791 positive cases of Covid-19 last week, the highest number in a single week since the pandemic began. https://www.thelocal.se/20220125/covid-19-record-high-case-numbers-and-swedish-school-closures Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:00:59 +0100 covid-19-record-high-case-numbers-and-swedish-school-closures Less than four weeks after it was introduced, Sweden will later this week scrap the Covid test requirement for foreign visitors from some countries and bring back the vaccine pass rules that applied before the turn of the year. https://www.thelocal.se/20220118/sweden-scraps-negative-covid-test-for-foreigners-from-some-countries Tue, 18 Jan 2022 14:56:53 +0100 sweden-scraps-negative-covid-test-for-foreigners-from-some-countries On December 30th, 11,507 new cases of Covid-19 were reported to the Public Health Agency – the highest confirmed number for a single day since the start of the pandemic. However, large-scale testing did not begin until the autumn of 2020. https://www.thelocal.se/20220104/sweden-records-highest-number-of-daily-covid-cases-since-start-of-pandemic Tue, 04 Jan 2022 17:59:41 +0100 sweden-records-highest-number-of-daily-covid-cases-since-start-of-pandemic A series of new recommendations and restrictions are being rolled out in Sweden for the Christmas period, and negative tests for all foreign tourists are also in the pipeline. Here's The Local's guide to some of the key points and links to where you can get more information. https://www.thelocal.se/20211220/ten-covid-rules-to-be-aware-of-in-sweden-this-christmas Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:40:04 +0100 ten-covid-rules-to-be-aware-of-in-sweden-this-christmas Foreign tourists travelling to Sweden will have to show a negative Covid-19 test to be allowed into the country from December 28th, regardless of whether or not they are vaccinated. https://www.thelocal.se/20211222/sweden-to-bar-vaccinated-foreign-tourists-without-negative-covid-test Wed, 22 Dec 2021 14:35:19 +0100 sweden-to-bar-vaccinated-foreign-tourists-without-negative-covid-test