Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.
More than a month’s worth of rain falls in one night in Gävle
Heavy rain battered large parts of Sweden yesterday and continued into the early hours of Wednesday, with the Gävle region particularly affected. Several roads were flooded, and train traffic was disrupted in Gävle and Dalarna. Emergency services warned people of road damages and cautioned them not to head out on the roads if it’s still raining.
In Gävle, 140 millimetres came down between 8pm on Tuesday and 4am today, double in one night of the 70 millimetres that usually fall over the whole month of August, a meteorologist for Sweden’s national weather agency SMHI told the TT newswire.
Swedish vocabulary: flooded – översvämmad
Covid-19 vaccine campaign for berry-pickers in Sweden
Almost 800 foreign berry-pickers will be offered the Covid-19 vaccine in the Jämtland-Härjedalen region in the coming weeks, reports TT and newspaper Länstidningen Östersund. The Västernorrland region vaccinated just as many on Monday.
This comes after several cluster outbreaks among foreign workers, who travel to Sweden every year, often from Thailand, to make a living by picking berries.
Swedish vocabulary: berry-picker – bärplockare
Covid infections on the increase in Stockholm
New Covid-19 infections are increasing in Stockholm for the seventh week in a row. Stockholm health authorities noted a 20 percent increase last week compared to the week before, they write in a new update on their website.
A total of 2,177 new cases were confirmed between August 10th and 16th, and 62 Covid-19 patients are currently being treated in hospital in the region, including eight in intensive care. No new deaths were reported.
Around 78 percent of over-18s in Stockholm have been given their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 57.2 percent have been given two doses. Vaccinations opened for the youngest age group, 16-17-year-olds, on August 9th, and so far 27.5 percent have been given their first dose.
Swedish vocabulary: confirm – bekräfta
More than a million kronor donated to Swedish Afghanistan charity
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) says it has received more than a million kronor in donations and new memberships in the past three days alone, by people who want to support the organisation following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
SCA was founded in 1980 as a religiously independent and non-partisan organisation that provides humanitarian aid to people in Afghanistan, including education, healthcare, human rights and gender equality. It employs more than 6,000 people in Afghanistan.
The news comes after Sweden announced it would reconsider how best to deploy foreign aid to the country, with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven stressing it would “in no way give any aid to the Taliban”. Sweden also provides aid to SCA which does not go through the regime.
Swedish vocabulary: aid – bistånd
Comments
See Also
More than a month’s worth of rain falls in one night in Gävle
Heavy rain battered large parts of Sweden yesterday and continued into the early hours of Wednesday, with the Gävle region particularly affected. Several roads were flooded, and train traffic was disrupted in Gävle and Dalarna. Emergency services warned people of road damages and cautioned them not to head out on the roads if it’s still raining.
In Gävle, 140 millimetres came down between 8pm on Tuesday and 4am today, double in one night of the 70 millimetres that usually fall over the whole month of August, a meteorologist for Sweden’s national weather agency SMHI told the TT newswire.
Swedish vocabulary: flooded – översvämmad
Covid-19 vaccine campaign for berry-pickers in Sweden
Almost 800 foreign berry-pickers will be offered the Covid-19 vaccine in the Jämtland-Härjedalen region in the coming weeks, reports TT and newspaper Länstidningen Östersund. The Västernorrland region vaccinated just as many on Monday.
This comes after several cluster outbreaks among foreign workers, who travel to Sweden every year, often from Thailand, to make a living by picking berries.
Swedish vocabulary: berry-picker – bärplockare
Covid infections on the increase in Stockholm
New Covid-19 infections are increasing in Stockholm for the seventh week in a row. Stockholm health authorities noted a 20 percent increase last week compared to the week before, they write in a new update on their website.
A total of 2,177 new cases were confirmed between August 10th and 16th, and 62 Covid-19 patients are currently being treated in hospital in the region, including eight in intensive care. No new deaths were reported.
Around 78 percent of over-18s in Stockholm have been given their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 57.2 percent have been given two doses. Vaccinations opened for the youngest age group, 16-17-year-olds, on August 9th, and so far 27.5 percent have been given their first dose.
Swedish vocabulary: confirm – bekräfta
More than a million kronor donated to Swedish Afghanistan charity
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) says it has received more than a million kronor in donations and new memberships in the past three days alone, by people who want to support the organisation following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
SCA was founded in 1980 as a religiously independent and non-partisan organisation that provides humanitarian aid to people in Afghanistan, including education, healthcare, human rights and gender equality. It employs more than 6,000 people in Afghanistan.
The news comes after Sweden announced it would reconsider how best to deploy foreign aid to the country, with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven stressing it would “in no way give any aid to the Taliban”. Sweden also provides aid to SCA which does not go through the regime.
Swedish vocabulary: aid – bistånd
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.