Mayor of Stockholm calls for reopening of the city

31.01.2022

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Mayor of Stockholm Anna König Jerlmyr has called on Sweden to follow the example of neighbouring Denmark and move forward with relaxing the Covid-19 restrictions.

Mayor König Jerlmyr stated on social media: ‘’On Monday, Denmark opens up society, making the coming weekend the last one with restrictions. Sweden should follow suit. But the other day, the government announced that the restrictions will be extended.’’

Despite the surging numbers of coronavirus infections, Denmark has announced plans to lift all Covid-19 measures from this week. The Scandinavian nation’s health authorities assessed that Covid-19 should longer be treated as a “societally critical disease”.

Sweden, on the other hand, announced last Wednesday that all existing coronavirus measures would be extended for a period of two weeks. The current rules suggest, among other things, that hospitality sector facilities should close at 23.00. Furthermore, people are still advised to work from home and avoid large crowds.

The residents of Sweden are also urged to avoid close contact with people in a risk group, as well as those aged 70 and over. Furthermore, anyone above the age of six who is experiencing Covid-like symptoms and has not had the disease in the previous six months is also advised to get tested.

‘’With half a million new cases a week, despite the extensive restrictions in place, continuing to shut down society in this way is no longer justified given all the negative consequences it has,’’ König Jerlmyr further stated.

Denmark is not the only European country which has decided to relax the measures which were meant to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands have also recently announced easing all of some of the restrictions.

‘’The way forward should now be to focus on protecting vulnerable groups and getting those who have not yet vaccinated, but can, to do so. Open up Sweden and Stockholm,’’ mayor of Stockholm Anna König Jerlmyr concluded. (photo credit: Tomas Williams/Unsplash)