Today in Sweden: A round-up of the latest news on Tuesday

Stockholm set to announce new coronavirus measures

Stockholm is expected to introduce further measures today to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Regional infectious disease doctors in Stockholm have called a press conference at 12.30pm, to discuss the current situation and future recommendations.

"The number of positive cases of Covid-19 continues to increase and Region Stockholm is taking further measures to stop the spread," read a press statement on Tuesday morning.

No further information was immediately available. The Local will cover the press conference HERE and in our paywall-free blog.

Meteorite found in Sweden

A meteorite that fell from space in November, sparking headlines after it lit up the night sky in central Sweden, has been found near the village of Ådalen in the Enköping area.

This is the first time since the 1950s that a meteorite is found in Sweden. Fragments of the space rock were tracked down last month, as The Local reported at the time, and the meteorite itself was found 70 metres from the place were the fragments were found.

The meteorite weights almost 14 kilos, writes the Swedish Museum of Natural History.

Swedish vocabulary: space – rymden

Hard to confirm data on long Covid patients

Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) has been ordered by the government to investigate the group of people affected by long Covid – people who have lingering symptoms of the virus for at least six weeks after infection, even if they did not appear to get seriously ill when they first contracted the illness.

But an old regulation to protect the integrity of patients means that the authority is not allowed to access the patient registry on patients in primary care – such as people who are only in contact with the local doctor's surgery (vårdcentral) but never have symptoms that are severe enough to visit hospital or receive specialist care. The National Board of Health and Welfare is only able to receive patient data from the two latter categories.

This makes it harder for Sweden to estimate how many people in the country are affected by long Covid, reports public radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio.

Swedish vocabulary: long Covid – långtidscovid

One more Swedish region rolls out tighter coronavirus guidelines

Another Swedish region has tightened its local coronavirus measures to curb the spread of new variants of the virus, including stepping up its face mask recommendations.

"The situation is worrying and it is of the utmost importance to avoid a continued increase in the spread of infection and an increased burden on healthcare," read a statement by regional authorities in Gävleborg, in central Sweden, on Monday.

The region on Saturday confirmed Sweden's first cases of the P.1 variant of the virus (which was first discovered in Brazil), but its warning on Monday focused mostly on the B.1.1.7 mutation (first discovered in the UK) which it said was spreading rapidly.

The Local covered the news yesterday, so you can read more HERE.

Swedish vocabulary: face mask – munskydd

Sweden sees lowest population growth in 15 years due to pandemic

Sweden last year had the lowest net population growth in 15 years, while December was the first month in 20 years when the number of people living in the country actually declined.

According to a new report by Statistics Sweden, the population grew by just 0.5 percent last year, as the coronavirus pandemic led to a sharp drop in net migration and an increase in the number of deaths. This represents the lowest increase since 2005, when the population grew by 0.4 percent.

"The population increase is nearly half as large as in the previous year," said Linus Garp, population statistician at Statistics Sweden, in a statement. "We have to go back to 2005 to find a smaller increase in the population, both in relative and absolute numbers."

Lower positive net migration (how many more people are entering than leaving Sweden) had the biggest impact on the population growth. It decreased by 50.7 percent compared with 2019. The excess of births (how many more people are born than die) decreased by 41.9 percent. Here's a more in-depth report on the statistics.

Swedish vocabulary: population – befolkning

Free Covid tests for cross-border families

The Skåne region in southern Sweden is now offering free Covid-19 tests to parents who live on opposite sides of the border with Denmark and have shared custody.

This is to make it easier for cross-border parents to avoid the tough border restrictions between the two countries and pick up their children. Parents will have to show the child's birth certificate, proof that the other parent lives in Denmark, and the ID card of the parent getting the Covid test. Children aged under 12 do not have to get tested.

Swedish vocabulary: shared custody – delad vårdnad