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Sweden Could Introduce Restrictions in Stockholm After Uptick

Sweden Could Introduce Restrictions in Stockholm After Uptick

Swedish authorities are weighing whether to tighten restrictions in the capital Stockholm after a localized uptick of coronavirus cases over the past few weeks.

“Stockholm has seen a clear increase recently, across all age groups,” chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said on a press conference. “We are discussing with Stockholm whether we need some additional possibility to take measures to reduce transmission.”

The virus has so far claimed the lives of 5,870 people in Sweden, where shops, restaurants, gyms and schools have remained open throughout the pandemic. The Stockholm region has been the country’s worst hit area with 2,400 deaths.

Tegnell declined to elaborate on what measures could be taken to stem the spread of the disease in the capital.

While the situation has greatly improved across the country since spring, Stockholm’s health care director, Bjorn Eriksson, said the downward trend in the region has been broken. He urged citizens to follow the social-distancing advice that remains in place, and warned that the situation may soon turn serious again if the number of cases continues to increase.

“The pandemic is still ongoing, and I am pretty exasperated by people who act as if this is over,” Eriksson said at a separate press conference. “Everyone needs to help in reducing transmission.”

Stockholm currently has 27 coronavirus patients being treated in the region’s hospitals and two of them are in intensive care units. At the peak of the pandemic, in April, Stockholm hospitals were treating more than 1,100 people with Covid-19.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.