One dead as storm batters Denmark and Sweden

Streets were flooded and thousands were left without electricity as Storm Malik battered Sweden this weekend, but most households had their power back by Monday morning.

In Malmö, a 100-year-old tree fell into a woman’s kitchen, but she was not injured. Scaffolding broke lose at Södertälje Hospital and the Aftonbladet newspaper reported that the hospital moved patients so that they wouldn’t be too close to the windows.

In neighbouring Denmark, a 78-year-old woman died after opening a stable door from the inside which was then caught in the strong winds. She was dragged out and fell as a result, and sustained injuries which led to her death, according to Danish police.

Swedish vocabulary: winds – vindar or blåst

Swedish handballers bring gold medal back home after 20 years

Sweden won the European Men’s Handball Championship after a tense 60 minutes against current title holders Spain, after THW Kiel right winger Niclas Ekberg – who was among the players who had been in Covid quarantine on and off during the tournament and were declared fit to play on the morning of the final – scored a penalty in the final second of the game.

It’s been 20 years since Sweden last won a gold in an international handball tournament, at a European Championship which marked the end of the country’s decade-long golden handball era. The 2023 World Men’s Handball Championship will be held in Poland and Sweden.

Swedish vocabulary: right wing – högerkant

💪 The winning goal for @hlandslaget 🇸🇪, by Niclas Ekberg#ehfeuro2022 #watchgamesseemore pic.twitter.com/GUy2qxNVCz

— EHF EURO (@EHFEURO) January 30, 2022

Trains back on schedule in Sweden

Stockholm trains are expected to run as normal on Monday, after around half of all trains – including long-distance, regional and commuter trains – going to, from and via the capital were cancelled on Saturday due to staff illness.

Rail traffic in areas such as Östergötland, Småland, Skåne and the west coast may however be subject to delays on Monday, due to havoc wreaked by Storm Malik over the weekend.

Swedish vocabulary: a commuter train – ett pendeltåg

Covid drug supplies running low in Sweden

Stocks of sotrovimab – a medicine used to treat in particular the Covid-19 variant Omicron – are running low, and Swedish hospitals are now having to prioritise which patients will receive it, reports public radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio.

Sotrovimab will now only be given to patients with severely weakened immune systems, where the vaccine does not work. Unvaccinated people will be the main group that might not receive the medication, since its effect on these patients is not known.

More supplies of sotrovimab are expected to arrive in February.

Swedish vocabulary: a patient – en patient