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Today in Sweden For Members

Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Becky Waterton
Becky Waterton - [email protected]
Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
MALMÖ 2022-01-01 Avspärrat kring en villa på Nordmannagatan i Limhamn totalförstördes i en brand tidigt på nyårsdagen. Enligt initiala uppgifter skall villan varit under renovering. Foto: Johan Nilsson / TT / Kod 50090

Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.

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Over 900 Covid-19 patients in hospital - more expected soon

On Wednesday this week, around 940 patients with Covid-19 were being treated in Swedish hospitals, with 114 of these patients in intensive care. This is according to figures released by the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen), updated on Wednesdays.

This is an increase of 255 patients since last week.

"The situation is stressful," Johan Bratt, chief medical officer for Region Stockholm told newswire TT. On Thursday, there were 267 Covid-19 patients being treated in Stockholm, 32 of which were in intensive care.

He describes three factors making the situation difficult for healthcare services: an increase in Covid-19 patients, high pressure on the health services already due to other infections such as influenza, and health workers taking time off because of illness or "vab" - caring for children who are ill.

"This means that those who are healthy have to work even harder," he says. Pressure on healthcare from Covid-19 patients is expected to increase further in coming weeks.

"When spread of infection increases it takes around two weeks before we see it in healthcare," Bratt says.

Swedish vocabulary: en ökning - an increase

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Explosion in Malmö on Thursday night

A detonation occured in the Limhamn area of Malmö at around 11pm last night, TT reports.

"We had a lot of phone calls about a very loud bang. With help of information from witnesses, we managed to find a car which had been damaged," says Patric Fors, police press spokesperson.

The explosion occured close to an apartment building. Reports do not suggest that anyone has been injured in connection with the explosion.

The area has been closed off and national bomb control services have been sent to the site, alongside police technicians.

Swedish vocabulary: en smäll - a bang

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SMHI issues skid risk warning for Swedish west coast

SVT reports that SMHI have announced a yellow warning for a skid risk due to ice along the coast of the western region of Götaland. The ice is caused by rain falling on cold road surfaces after a chilly night.

The risk may affect drivers this morning, says Katarina Andersson, meteorologist at SMHI: the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.

The skid risk may cause traffic to be slower than usual and could make it harder to reach some areas if accidents occur. There is also a risk for delays to public transport, SVT reports.

SMHI's warning spans from 4am to 11am today. Later in the day, temperatures are expected to rise, which will cause the roads to warm up and the ice to melt.

Swedish vocabulary: ishalka - ice causing a skid risk

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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.

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Anonymous 2022/01/07 21:37
Is 15 minutes of mask wearing really too much to ask? When so many here can’t even be bothered to mask up at vaccination centres you may as well be spitting in the face of your health workers. Unacceptable.
  • Anonymous 2022/01/08 19:46
    Can you just stop the mask histerica? Please. Sweden does it much better than other European countries.

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