Sweden Eases Quarantine Rules To Tackle Staff Shortages

Umer Jamshaid Published January 20, 2022 | 10:01 PM

Sweden on Thursday eased its coronavirus quarantine rules to tackle staffing shortages in critical services as the number of cases of the more infectious Omicron variant in the country soars

Stockholm, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2022 ) :Sweden on Thursday eased its coronavirus quarantine rules to tackle staffing shortages in critical services as the number of cases of the more infectious Omicron variant in the country soars.

"The rate of infection is leading to a risk of lack of staff and serious consequences in services crucial to society," Sweden's Public Health Agency said in a statement.

From now on, the quarantine period for people in a household where someone has tested positive must stay home for five days, instead of seven previously.

And people who have received three vaccine doses, or already had Covid-19 in the last three months, or are employed in critical services, do not have to quarantine at all.

The health agency said the rule change was not considered "to significantly increase the risk of the spread of infection." Like other European countries, Omicron has led to record numbers of new cases in the country of 10.

3 million, where nearly 40,000 cases were recorded on Wednesday alone.

"In our assessment a large part of the population risks getting infected in the next weeks," health agency official, Sara Byfors, told a news conference.

Nevertheless, other restrictions would remain in place, such as homeworking, social distancing and masks on public transport.

Unlike most other countries, Sweden did not introduce any form of lockdown or school closures in the early days of the pandemic, but adopted a softer approach.

It did nevertheless ban visits to elderly care homes, limit the number of people attending public gatherings and restrict opening hours at bars and restaurants.

With around 15,600 fatalities so far, Sweden's death toll is in line with the European average, but is significantly higher than those of neighbouring Norway, Finland and Denmark.