Sweden lifts all COVID-19 restrictions

By Atila Altuntas

STOCKHOLM (AA) – Sweden lifted all COVID-19-related restrictions in the country on Wednesday, announcing that the pandemic has been brought under full control.

The country announced limited COVID-19-related restrictions that began on June 1 and ended on Sept. 29, The Public Health Directorate said in a statement

After Denmark and Norway, Sweden is the third Scandinavian country to totally abolish coronavirus-related restrictions.

According to the statement, rules such as wearing a mask at airports and on planes where international rules apply, as well as PCR testing, will continue to be enforced.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Foreign Ministry announced in a separate statement that all travel bans will be lifted on Oct. 1, 2021.

On Sept. 20, a travel restriction for Turkish citizens with double vaccination certificates was lifted.

According to the statement, the first dose of vaccination is administered to 83.6% of those over the age of 18, while the proportion of those who received two doses is 76%. While the country has started the third dose on Wednesday, it added.

According to the Public Health Institute, the number of people who have died in Sweden due to the deadly virus has risen to 14,851 and the number of cases has surpassed 1.14 million.

- Herd immunity strategy failed

A report by the Corona Commission, which has examined the government's COVID-19 strategy, reported that the "herd immunity" strategy has failed in the country, where light measures to combat the virus were adopted between Dec. 24, 2020 and June 1, 2021.

"Most of the employees working in nursing homes have been left alone in the fight against the virus crisis," the report said, emphasizing that the elderly are not particularly protected in the epidemic.

“Late measures were taken in nursing homes, the elderly could not be protected,” the statement added.

The fact that the number of people who lost their lives due to the virus in Sweden was three times higher than the total of Finland, Norway, and Denmark, which took drastic measures and closed for a long time, drew a lot of criticism.

* Writing by Merve Berker