- There have been 1,973,485 confirmed cases of the coronavirus according to data reported on January 26th (up from 1,922,990 on January 25th).
- 7,828,555 people aged over 12 had been given at least one dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus as of January 26th, and 7,543,618 had been given two doses. This means 86.6 percent of Sweden’s over-12 population has now had one dose, and 83.5 percent has had two doses. 3,680,402 people over the age of 18 have had three doses – 44.3 percent of that age group.
- Everyone in Sweden is urged to stay at home if they are at all sick with possible Covid-19 symptoms. Read more about the current rules here
Sweden has confirmed 1,973,485 cases of coronavirus to date. A total of 15,768 people have died since the start of the pandemic within 30 days of testing positive, and 8,527 Covid-19 patients have received intensive care.
A total of 7,828,555 people aged over 12 have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 7,543,618 have received two doses. This corresponds to 86.6 and 83.5 percent, respectively, of Sweden’s over-12 population. A total of 3,680,402 people over the age of 18 have had three doses – 44.3 percent of that age group.
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 today. She said further details would come next week, but here’s what we know so far.
Karin Tegmark Wisell, director-general of the Public Health Agency, told the same press conference that 270,000 new cases had been confirmed with PCR tests in the past seven days, but that the agency believes that the outbreak is currently so widespread that the true figure could be a least half a million people a week. Sweden’s population is more than 10 million people.
EU countries have agreed to make it easier for anyone with an EU Covid-19 certificate to travel within the bloc without having to face any further restrictions such as tests or quarantine. It would mean those with an EU Covid certificate, which proves vaccination, recovery or a negative test, would be allowed to travel freely within the EU or Schengen zone without the need for extra tests or quarantine, even if they were coming from a country with high Covid infection rates.
January 25th:
Sweden has confirmed 1,922,990 cases of coronavirus to date. A total of 15,693 people have died since the start of the pandemic within 30 days of testing positive, and 8,507 Covid-19 patients have received intensive care.
A total of 7,825,580 people aged over 12 have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 7,538,117 have received two doses. This corresponds to 86.6 and 83.4 percent, respectively, of Sweden’s over-12 population. A total of 3,608,460 people over the age of 18 have had three doses – 43.4 percent of that age group.
Swedish hospitals usually carry out around 560,000 operations in a normal year. That figure had already dropped by 133,000 before the coronavirus pandemic hit, and then kept falling – ending up at 169,000 fewer operations in 2021, reports the TT newswire today. Although it varies between regions, the main problem now is not a limited number of ICU beds, but rather staff shortages because a lot of staff are at home with Covid, quarantining because a family member is ill, or looking after a sick child.
Staff shortages are a problem in many schools too. In Stockholm, 22 percent of staff in the municipality’s schools were absent due to illness or quarantine – almost four times more than the same week last year, reports Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
Omicron has taken hold in Sweden, and the high demand on testing facilities has led to delays for booking tests, as well as changes in testing rules. So who should get tested, and how can they book? Here’s The Local’s guide to the current guidelines in Sweden.
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