Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.
One in ten berry-pickers in Swedish region tests positive for coronavirus
Around 300 foreign workers who were hired to pick berries in the Gävleborg region were tested for coronavirus after an outbreak. Out of them, 35 turned out to have the virus, reports public radio broadcaster P4 Gävleborg.
“Most of them did not have any symptoms, but some had mild symptoms such as a blocked nose or feeling like they had a cold,” regional infectious disease doctor Shah Jalal told the radio, and urged all of them to avoid visiting stores and restaurants.
Swedish vocabulary: blocked nose – nästäppa
Left Party: We’ll back the budget, but here’s what we want in return
The Swedish Left Party has presented a number of demands to support the government’s autumn budget – the first major bill Prime Minister Stefan Löfven will have to get through parliament since his historic ousting and return this summer.
The Left Party’s demands include jobs, climate, compensating for lowering taxes by raising other taxes, making it easier to qualify for unemployment benefits, scrapping Sweden’s first unpaid day of sick leave (karensdag) completely and permanently, and “shaping the systems so that they create safety rather than inequality”.
The party outlined its demands in an opinion piece for the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
Swedish vocabulary: safety – trygghet
Church fire in southern Sweden started by lightning strike
A fire that gutted the Ansgarii Church in Jönköping, southern Sweden, last week was not started deliberately, but was caused by a lightning strike, reports P4 Jönköping.
Police opened an investigation into arson, which is routine procedure to let them investigate the cause of the fire, but have now been able to close the investigation.
“Exactly at 2am lightning struck and around seven minutes later you can see a pillar of smoke. At 2.15am the alarm goes off at the security company and you can see fire moving in front of a camera. We’ve got this all on camera,” the police’s chief investigator Rickard Finndahl told regional newspaper Jönköpings-Posten.
Swedish vocabulary: lightning strike – blixtnedslag
In numbers: Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Sweden
The number of new Covid-19 cases is on the increase in Sweden, said the Public Health Agency’s Sara Byfors at the agency’s first press conference after the summer holidays.
Sweden’s national 14-day incidence rate stood at 78 new cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks, and it so far looks like it’s continuing to increase this week.
To date, Sweden has confirmed 1,109,112 infections, 14,658 people have died within 30 days of testing positive, and 7,646 Covid-19 patients have been in intensive care.
Around 77 percent of everyone who has tested positive recently is aged 40 or younger, which are the age groups that are less likely to be fully vaccinated, since Sweden’s nationwide vaccination programme has generally prioritised older people.
Swedish vocabulary: increase – ökning (noun), öka (verb)
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One in ten berry-pickers in Swedish region tests positive for coronavirus
Around 300 foreign workers who were hired to pick berries in the Gävleborg region were tested for coronavirus after an outbreak. Out of them, 35 turned out to have the virus, reports public radio broadcaster P4 Gävleborg.
“Most of them did not have any symptoms, but some had mild symptoms such as a blocked nose or feeling like they had a cold,” regional infectious disease doctor Shah Jalal told the radio, and urged all of them to avoid visiting stores and restaurants.
Swedish vocabulary: blocked nose – nästäppa
Left Party: We’ll back the budget, but here’s what we want in return
The Swedish Left Party has presented a number of demands to support the government’s autumn budget – the first major bill Prime Minister Stefan Löfven will have to get through parliament since his historic ousting and return this summer.
The Left Party’s demands include jobs, climate, compensating for lowering taxes by raising other taxes, making it easier to qualify for unemployment benefits, scrapping Sweden’s first unpaid day of sick leave (karensdag) completely and permanently, and “shaping the systems so that they create safety rather than inequality”.
The party outlined its demands in an opinion piece for the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
Swedish vocabulary: safety – trygghet
Church fire in southern Sweden started by lightning strike
A fire that gutted the Ansgarii Church in Jönköping, southern Sweden, last week was not started deliberately, but was caused by a lightning strike, reports P4 Jönköping.
Police opened an investigation into arson, which is routine procedure to let them investigate the cause of the fire, but have now been able to close the investigation.
“Exactly at 2am lightning struck and around seven minutes later you can see a pillar of smoke. At 2.15am the alarm goes off at the security company and you can see fire moving in front of a camera. We’ve got this all on camera,” the police’s chief investigator Rickard Finndahl told regional newspaper Jönköpings-Posten.
Swedish vocabulary: lightning strike – blixtnedslag
In numbers: Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Sweden
The number of new Covid-19 cases is on the increase in Sweden, said the Public Health Agency’s Sara Byfors at the agency’s first press conference after the summer holidays.
Sweden’s national 14-day incidence rate stood at 78 new cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks, and it so far looks like it’s continuing to increase this week.
To date, Sweden has confirmed 1,109,112 infections, 14,658 people have died within 30 days of testing positive, and 7,646 Covid-19 patients have been in intensive care.
Around 77 percent of everyone who has tested positive recently is aged 40 or younger, which are the age groups that are less likely to be fully vaccinated, since Sweden’s nationwide vaccination programme has generally prioritised older people.
Swedish vocabulary: increase – ökning (noun), öka (verb)
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