Today in Sweden: A round-up of the latest news on Friday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short round-up of the news in less than five minutes.
Prime Minister to hold press conference with vaccine coordinator
There's another government press conference scheduled for this morning, with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, Health and Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren and Sweden's vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström. We will post any important updates from the conference on our homepage or in our coronavirus blog.
It's likely to be about prioritisation for a coronavirus vaccine, with Bergström having told Dagens Nyheter that Sweden will have at least four million doses of a vaccine before Easter. No vaccines have yet been approved for use in Sweden and the EU, but the UK became the first country to approve a vaccine by Pfizer this week. Like in other countries, Sweden has already said the vaccine will first be given to high priority groups such as the elderly and others at risk of serious illness from the coronavirus, and healthcare staff.
Swedish vocabulary: vaccine – vaccin
Vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg / TT
Temporary visiting ban at elderly care homes in 32 municipalities
The Public Health Agency has temporarily banned visits to elderly care homes in several parts of the country, including Stockholm and much of the surround area, as well as Sölvesborg, Skara, Lyeskil, Landskrona and Dorotea.
It's the first decision of its kind to be made after the agency made local bans possible in late November. To receive them, municipalities must show that they have first taken their own infection prevention measures. The ban came into effect immediately on Thursday and is initially valid until December 12th.
Stockholm mayor Anna König Jerlmyr said she was pleased the ban was now allowed, after the city earlier introduced its own ban despite it not being legal. But König Jerlmyr, a member of the opposition Moderate Party, said the move came late and was cumbersome. "We already see that it is an extensive decision-making process that they [the Public Health Agency] demand. The risk is that it will be so difficult that we get our decisions several weeks after our infection peaks," she told the TT newswire.
Swedish vocabulary: visiting ban – besöksförbud
Maria Edlund, 103, lives at the Attendo Flottiljen elderly care home in Järfälla. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT
Sweden's schools for over-16s shift back to remote learning
Sweden's upper secondary schools are again closing their doors to students from Monday until after Christmas.
The decision means that upper secondary schools (generally teenagers aged around 16-18 in Sweden) will have to quickly switch back to online teaching for the rest of the semester, from December 7th until January 6th.
Swedish vocabulary: upper secondary school – gymnasium
Photo: Jessica Gow/TT
Sweden's unusually mild autumn sets spate of November records
Higher-than-normal temperatures in southern and central Sweden contributed to a record-breaking month of November.
On November 2nd and 6th, new records for the month of November were set in several places – the highest temperature measured being 18.4C, in Gladhammar on November 6th. This weather record is similar to the Swedish heat record for November that was recorded in Ugerup in Skåne on November 2nd, 1968.
Swedish vocabulary: to break a record – slå ett rekord
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT
Iran postpones execution of Iranian-Swedish academic
The wife of Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali said that she had been informed by her husband's lawyer that Iranian authorities had decided to postpone his execution for "some days".
Mehran Nia told AFP she believed the postponement was related to "political issues" in Iran, and even if it was a "good sign" she was unsure what it meant for her husband's chances.
Swedish vocabulary: academic – akademiker
Ahmadreza Djalali's wife Vida Mehran Nia. Photo: Tomas Oneborg/SvD/TT
Thank you for reading. If you have any thoughts or questions about life in Sweden, you are always welcome to email our editorial team at [email protected].
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Prime Minister to hold press conference with vaccine coordinator
There's another government press conference scheduled for this morning, with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, Health and Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren and Sweden's vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström. We will post any important updates from the conference on our homepage or in our coronavirus blog.
It's likely to be about prioritisation for a coronavirus vaccine, with Bergström having told Dagens Nyheter that Sweden will have at least four million doses of a vaccine before Easter. No vaccines have yet been approved for use in Sweden and the EU, but the UK became the first country to approve a vaccine by Pfizer this week. Like in other countries, Sweden has already said the vaccine will first be given to high priority groups such as the elderly and others at risk of serious illness from the coronavirus, and healthcare staff.
Swedish vocabulary: vaccine – vaccin
Vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg / TT
Temporary visiting ban at elderly care homes in 32 municipalities
The Public Health Agency has temporarily banned visits to elderly care homes in several parts of the country, including Stockholm and much of the surround area, as well as Sölvesborg, Skara, Lyeskil, Landskrona and Dorotea.
It's the first decision of its kind to be made after the agency made local bans possible in late November. To receive them, municipalities must show that they have first taken their own infection prevention measures. The ban came into effect immediately on Thursday and is initially valid until December 12th.
Stockholm mayor Anna König Jerlmyr said she was pleased the ban was now allowed, after the city earlier introduced its own ban despite it not being legal. But König Jerlmyr, a member of the opposition Moderate Party, said the move came late and was cumbersome. "We already see that it is an extensive decision-making process that they [the Public Health Agency] demand. The risk is that it will be so difficult that we get our decisions several weeks after our infection peaks," she told the TT newswire.
Swedish vocabulary: visiting ban – besöksförbud
Maria Edlund, 103, lives at the Attendo Flottiljen elderly care home in Järfälla. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT
Sweden's schools for over-16s shift back to remote learning
Sweden's upper secondary schools are again closing their doors to students from Monday until after Christmas.
The decision means that upper secondary schools (generally teenagers aged around 16-18 in Sweden) will have to quickly switch back to online teaching for the rest of the semester, from December 7th until January 6th.
Swedish vocabulary: upper secondary school – gymnasium
Photo: Jessica Gow/TT
Sweden's unusually mild autumn sets spate of November records
Higher-than-normal temperatures in southern and central Sweden contributed to a record-breaking month of November.
On November 2nd and 6th, new records for the month of November were set in several places – the highest temperature measured being 18.4C, in Gladhammar on November 6th. This weather record is similar to the Swedish heat record for November that was recorded in Ugerup in Skåne on November 2nd, 1968.
Swedish vocabulary: to break a record – slå ett rekord
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT
Iran postpones execution of Iranian-Swedish academic
The wife of Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali said that she had been informed by her husband's lawyer that Iranian authorities had decided to postpone his execution for "some days".
Mehran Nia told AFP she believed the postponement was related to "political issues" in Iran, and even if it was a "good sign" she was unsure what it meant for her husband's chances.
Swedish vocabulary: academic – akademiker
Ahmadreza Djalali's wife Vida Mehran Nia. Photo: Tomas Oneborg/SvD/TT
Thank you for reading. If you have any thoughts or questions about life in Sweden, you are always welcome to email our editorial team at [email protected].
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