Sweden has announced the harshest measures against coronavirus, including its first recommendation to use face masks, as the death toll has continued to rise.
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced on Friday night a series of new restrictions starting with Christmas Eve, including a recommendation to wear face masks on public transport during peak hours. He also said that high schools and many municipal services will be closed for a month, while access to shops, malls and gyms would be restricted.
“This year, Christmas must be different. The situation is still serious. . . The situation in hospitals is very tense, “Mr Lofven told a news conference.
Sweden was the only country in Europe to withstand an official blockade in both the first and second waves, but its latest measures bring it closer to introducing a de facto closure of large parts of its society.
Other measures announced on Friday included restricting the size of groups meeting in restaurants and bars to four people, while alcohol is banned after 20:00. Non-essential workers should work from home for a month, the prime minister said.
Mr Lofven also warned that if malls, shops and gyms ignored the maximum limit for those allowed, then they would be closed.
Sweden’s unique approach to Covid-19 has received widespread international attention © Jonas Gratzer / Getty
Asked by the Financial Times if these measures were too small, too late, Mr Lofven said Sweden was sticking to its strategy of making “the right decisions at the right time”.
He added: “You also have to consider that a very serious blockage would not have a long-term effect, because people would not tolerate this. . . Closing a company is also a burden on the population. “
Sweden has also long resisted a recommendation to wear face masks outside hospitals, with health officials saying it could prevent people from keeping their distance from each other. “We don’t think it will have a decisive effect, but it can have a positive effect on public transport at certain times,” said Johan Carlson, head of the public health agency.
Sweden’s unique approach to the rest of Europe has received widespread international attention, and this week it criticized an unusual domestic source: King Carl XVI Gustaf said the country had “failed”.
This followed a frightening interim report from the Swedish independent commission investigating the treatment of coronavirus. They said the country had failed to protect its elderly population and blamed it on both the current center-left government and previous administrations.
Mr Lofven said “the king has expressed what we all feel” about the large number of deaths, but it has been difficult to attribute responsibility for this.
Sweden was surprised by the power of the second wave after state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell repeatedly said in the spring and summer that it would be spared compared to neighbors such as Finland and Norway.
Sweden has had about 1,700 deaths in the last month, compared to about 100 for each in Finland and Norway, each with half its own population.
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