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.
Trains cancelled due to strong winds
Strong winds across Sweden on Thursday night and Friday morning have caused cancellations and delays in train services, TT reports.
The train company Vy have cancelled all services between Kiruna-Narvik, as well as Östersund-Storlien until Friday morning. SJ have also cancelled services west of Östersund.
In southern Sweden, Trafikverket have cancelled services on many routes due to strong winds. These include services between Nässjö-Vetlanda, Ystad-Simrishamn and Kristianstad-Karlskrona starting at 4am on Friday morning.
Train services are expected to start up again at noon on Friday for some services, with others recommencing at 4am on Saturday.
P4 Väst reports that in western Sweden, services are not running between Uddevalla and Borås, as well as on the Bohus line. Ferry traffic is also affected.
Swedish vocabulary: kraftig blåst - strong winds
Explosion in doorway of apartment building in Helsingborg
An explosion has occurred in the doorway of an apartment building in Helsingborg.
"The area has been cordoned off and bomb control is on the scene," police officer Peter Martin told TT newswire.
Police received a number of calls from witnesses who had heard a bang early on Friday morning.
There are six apartments in the building. No one has been injured and no one has been evacuated, say police.
"No one has been arrested and there are no suspects," Martin told TT. "This is a relatively newly-built building and a relatively strong door, which means that it survived the blast quite well."
Swedish vocabulary: en smäll - a bang
Omicron reawakens face mask debate
In many countries, residents are subject to some sort of requirement to wear a face mask. In Sweden, the only formal recommendation is to wear a face mask on public transport, if it is not possible to keep a distance.
A number of researchers - many of whom have been critical to the Public Health Agency's handling of the pandemic in the past - describe the lack of stronger face mask requirements as "completely incomprehensible" in Expressen Debatt.
State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has responded to comments, stating that it is problematic to force people to use masks.
"If you want to see any sort of effect from this, you need very good compliance," he told newswire TT. "Information is the key. We don't have a system where we can force this to happen," said Tegnell, pointing out the issues which could occur if authorities were to force use of masks by law:
"Who is going to make sure that rules are being followed, who is going to cover the costs, should you be able to turn people away, do we even have that sort of power? It's very complicated to introduce a set of rules people are forced to follow and I think that is often underestimated. It's completely different when things are done on a voluntary basis."
Swedish vocabulary: obegripligt - incomprehensible
Comments (4)
See Also
Trains cancelled due to strong winds
Strong winds across Sweden on Thursday night and Friday morning have caused cancellations and delays in train services, TT reports.
The train company Vy have cancelled all services between Kiruna-Narvik, as well as Östersund-Storlien until Friday morning. SJ have also cancelled services west of Östersund.
In southern Sweden, Trafikverket have cancelled services on many routes due to strong winds. These include services between Nässjö-Vetlanda, Ystad-Simrishamn and Kristianstad-Karlskrona starting at 4am on Friday morning.
Train services are expected to start up again at noon on Friday for some services, with others recommencing at 4am on Saturday.
P4 Väst reports that in western Sweden, services are not running between Uddevalla and Borås, as well as on the Bohus line. Ferry traffic is also affected.
Swedish vocabulary: kraftig blåst - strong winds
Explosion in doorway of apartment building in Helsingborg
An explosion has occurred in the doorway of an apartment building in Helsingborg.
"The area has been cordoned off and bomb control is on the scene," police officer Peter Martin told TT newswire.
Police received a number of calls from witnesses who had heard a bang early on Friday morning.
There are six apartments in the building. No one has been injured and no one has been evacuated, say police.
"No one has been arrested and there are no suspects," Martin told TT. "This is a relatively newly-built building and a relatively strong door, which means that it survived the blast quite well."
Swedish vocabulary: en smäll - a bang
Omicron reawakens face mask debate
In many countries, residents are subject to some sort of requirement to wear a face mask. In Sweden, the only formal recommendation is to wear a face mask on public transport, if it is not possible to keep a distance.
A number of researchers - many of whom have been critical to the Public Health Agency's handling of the pandemic in the past - describe the lack of stronger face mask requirements as "completely incomprehensible" in Expressen Debatt.
State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has responded to comments, stating that it is problematic to force people to use masks.
"If you want to see any sort of effect from this, you need very good compliance," he told newswire TT. "Information is the key. We don't have a system where we can force this to happen," said Tegnell, pointing out the issues which could occur if authorities were to force use of masks by law:
"Who is going to make sure that rules are being followed, who is going to cover the costs, should you be able to turn people away, do we even have that sort of power? It's very complicated to introduce a set of rules people are forced to follow and I think that is often underestimated. It's completely different when things are done on a voluntary basis."
Swedish vocabulary: obegripligt - incomprehensible
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.