Sweden changes coronavirus strategy: abandon recommendations and introduce unprecedented restrictions – Source News



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Sweden announced on Monday that it will limit public gatherings to a maximum of eight people in the face of increasing contamination, a first since the start of the pandemic, inform AFP. Sweden had attracted worldwide attention after adopting a much less rigid strategy than other countries to fight COVID-19: no masks, no quarantine or closure of shops, only recommendations to the population to limit their contacts and work in telecommuting as much as possible.

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The number of people for public meetings, so far set at 50-300 depending on the case, will be reduced to eight for a month, starting November 24, a “very intrusive” and “unprecedented” measure, but “necessary” to reduce the infection curve, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven justified during a press conference.

Don’t go to the gym, don’t go to the library, don’t organize meals or vacations. Take them off!urged the Swedish prime minister.

This is one of the rare restrictions decided by the Scandinavian country, whose atypical strategy has been closely followed in recent months around the world.

The Scandinavian kingdom, with 10.3 million inhabitants, had a health strategy without wearing a mask, without quarantining or closing shops, but urged its population to limit contacts and work as much as possible in teleworking.

These “recommendations” apply here some rules, but are not accompanied by coercive measures or sanctions, except in cases where the limit of people is exceeded during public meetings.

And in the private sphere the latter is a recommendation, not a prohibition in the strict sense of the term.

Restaurants and bars will continue to be able to accommodate more than eight people, but no more than eight at the same table.

Faced with the second wave of the pandemic, the Swedish authorities already introduced new, stricter regional recommendations last month, which consist in particular of limiting contacts outside families and avoiding closed places. They now cover most of Sweden.

The Swedish executive also announced last week a ban on the sale of alcohol after 10pm, until February. Furthermore, in Stockholm and Gothenburg (west), visits to nursing homes – severely affected by the first wave of the pandemic – are again banned.

The death toll has started to rise again in recent days in Sweden: on Friday, the last day the figures were released, nearly 6,000 cases of contamination and 42 additional deaths were announced, which increased the total figure in Sweden. to over 177,000 contaminations and 6,164 deaths.

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