Sweden Gives Almost $1.5Bln To Offset Economic Damage From COVID-19 - Finance Minister

The Swedish government will provide additional funding of 15 billion kronor ($1.49 billion) to support its regions and communes in dealing with the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Thursday

STOCKHOLM (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2020) The Swedish government will provide additional funding of 15 billion kronor ($1.49 billion) to support its regions and communes in dealing with the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Thursday.

"In today's extraordinary situation needs are increasing, so today we are presenting a new package of anti-crisis measures. The government is allocating 15 billion kronor to the regions and communes for the struggle against the consequences of the coronavirus," Andersson said.

So far, the government has already given 100 billion kroner to fix the economic damage from the virus, the minister added.

The number of coronavirus infections in the Scandinavian country continued to climb on Thursday, with 5,446 people having contracted COVID-19 so far and 282 dying.

"They [victims] are mostly people aged over 70. That is why we must try to flatten the curve to allow the health system cope with the rising number of infections," the official said at a daily briefing.

Sweden is the last country in Europe that has not introduced strict confinement measures. The Swedish health authorities have recommended that people do not gather in groups larger that 50, try to telecommute and avoid going out if they are in the risk group.