Covid-19 no longer classed as a “threat to society”
The Covid-19 virus has lost its status as a “threat to society” and “threat to public health”, meaning it is no longer possible for the authorities to order those infected to participate in contract tracing or go into quarantine.
The so-called pandemic law, and another special law on bars and restaurants, are also expiring, losing the government a raft of special powers they temporarily gave themselves to slow the spread of infection.
“This comes as a result of our good vaccination coverage which is protecting people from serious illness,” said Sara Byfors from the Public Health Agency. “That’s why we no longer consider that it should be considered a threat to public health, because it no longer impacts on society in the same way.”
She said the agency did not expect Covid-19 to regain the classification unless a new vaccine-resistant variant arises.
But she said that the virus was still widely spread within the population, and said the recommendation remained to stay at home if you become ill. The Public Health Agency is still recommending that contact tracing continues within the healthcare and elderly care system.
The government has ordered experts to begin preparing a new, improved law on infectious diseases, building on what has been learned during the pandemic, with a proposal due to be submitted on August 31st next year.
Swedish Vocab: samhällsfarlig – a critical threat to society
LGBT debaters face widespread abuse: study
About half of those active in debating gay, bisexual, and trans issues have faced abuse, threats or actual violence, with a third of them experiencing this in the last year, according to a new report from the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society.
The agency sent an inquiry to 4,000 voluntary organisations and religious groups, of whom 43 percent replied.
“The responses show that threats and hate, or the fear of being exposed to these things, risks reducing the variety of voices in the debate in society,” Lena Nyberg, the organisation’s general director, wrote in a debate article in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
Swedish Vocab: HBTQ (homosexuella, bisexuella, trans- och queerpersoner) – LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)
Hospital waiting times grow 25 percent in a year
The number of people waiting to see a healthcare specialist or consultant doctor in Sweden has risen 25 percent over the last year, as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic takes its toll.
In December 2021, 465,800 patients were waiting for their first appointment with a consultant, and 163,600 were waiting for an operation, the National Board of Health and Welfare has reported, a 25 percent rise on the number waiting in January 2021.
According to the agency, four out of ten patients had been waiting more than 90 days for an operation, and 28 percent had been waiting more than 90 days for an appointment.
Did Russian jets carry nuclear weapons into Swedish airspace?
Swedish broadcaster TV4 reported on Wednesday that the Russian jets that violated Swedish airspace this month were carrying nuclear weapons. But defence experts in Sweden are sceptical.
According to an article published by TV4 on Wednesday, two of the Russian planes that had to be escorted away from airspace near Gotland on March 2nd were equipped with nuclear weapons. It was picked up by international newspapers such as the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard.
“My judgement from the pictures is that the planes look completely unarmed”, said expert Andreas Hörnedal from the Swedish Defence Research Agency.
He said Kh-32 cruise missiles, which can be nuclear-armed, cannot anyway be carried on a Sukhoi 24.
“These are huge missiles that weigh 5.5 tonnes and are carried on a different plane”, he said. “This was an obvious factual error, which, on the other hand, can happen when it comes to technological details”.
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