The Swedish Government has announced new restrictions on the size of public gatherings as the country seeks to come to grips with a second wave of the pandemic that has seen record daily numbers of new cases and growing pressure on hospitals.
Sweden's Minister for Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven give a press conference on the new restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19. Photo: AFP
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said Swedes were not sticking to coronavirus recommendations as well as they did in the spring and public gatherings would be limited to eight people, down from a previous upper limit of 300.
"This is the new norm for the entire society," Lofven told a news conference.
"Don't go to gyms, don't go to libraries, don't host dinners. Cancel."
Lofven said that the situation would get worse and appealed to Swedes to "do your duty" and "take responsibility to stop the spread" of Covid-19.
At first glance, life in Sweden during the pandemic appears to have hardly changed. But those working in the public health sector have had a very different experience.
The Prime Minister's announcement comes after the government, as recently as Friday, announced its strategy would not change.
Sweden has gained international attention for its unorthodox response to the pandemic, shunning lockdowns and widespread use of face masks and instead relying on mainly voluntary measures even as the pandemic hit the country increasingly hard.
The Nordic nation of 10 million people, whose soft-touch approach to combating the virus has also drawn harsh domestic criticism from some - has seen a surge in the number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths in recent weeks.
At 5990, the number of new cases reported on Friday was the highest since the start of the pandemic.
A further 42 deaths were also recorded, the most for about three months.
The Swedish government said last week that it would impose a nationwide ban on the sale of alcohol in bars, restaurants and night clubs after 10pm from 20 November.
Swedish Interior Minister Mikael Damberg said the new limit on gatherings - far lower than the 50 allowed during the spring outbreak - would begin on 24 November and be in place for four weeks but could be extended to run over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
More than 6000 people with Covid-19 have died in Sweden since the pandemic began, a death rate per capita several times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours, if somewhat lower than some larger European countries such as Spain.
"We don't believe in a total lockdown," Lofven said.
"We believe that the measures we have taken ... are appropriate."
- ABC