Sweden is tightening covid-19 restrictions as infections increase again
ANI |
Updated: 17 November 2021 23:42 IST
Stockholm [Sweden]November 17 (ANI / Xinhua): People in Sweden will soon have to show proof of vaccination to participate in large indoor events with 100 people or more, the government said here on Wednesday.
The new measure will be introduced on 1 December.
“The increasing spread of infections in Europe is the reason why the Swedish Public Health Agency now wants to introduce the use of vaccination certificates,” said the agency’s recently appointed director general Karin Tegmark Wisell at a press conference.
Event organizers can opt out of this rule but must then introduce other measures to ensure that unvaccinated individuals are not infected. Exactly what this means has not yet been decided, but the new rules may, for example, require people to keep their distance from each other or limit their number within a certain area.
At a joint press conference, Minister of Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren said that she expected most organizers to require vaccination certificates.
The Swedish Public Health Agency has also reintroduced the recommendation that everyone who has symptoms should be tested. From 1 November, tests are only recommended for unvaccinated individuals.
According to the latest statistics, the number of confirmed covid-19 infections in Sweden exceeded 1.186 million on Wednesday, and the cumulative number of deaths has reached 15,107, with 13 deaths registered in the last 24 hours.
In total, 7.29 million individuals, or 85.3 percent of the population 16 years and older, have received at least one vaccine dose and 81.7 percent two doses. (ANI / Xinhua)