Sweden becomes third Nordic country to lift COVID restrictions
HUNT VALLEY, Md. (SBG) — Sweden has lifted almost all remaining COVID-19 restrictions, making it the third Nordic country to do so in recent weeks.
Officials in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have lifted almost all lockdowns, and the countries are seeing few new COVID-19 deaths per day, especially compared with earlier in the pandemic.
Norway’s re-opening announcement last week was met with “rowdy celebrations" and at least 50 reports of fights and disturbances, according to the Associated Press.
“It has been 561 days since we introduced the toughest measures in Norway in peacetime,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said. “Now the time has come to return to a normal daily life.”
Norway doesn’t require proof of vaccination or a negative test result for citizens to enter nightclubs, bars and restaurants. Around 77% of Norway residents have had at least one vaccine dose and 68% are fully vaccinated, per The New York Times vaccination tracker.
The CDC designates Norway as a level 4, or “very high,” travel risk. “Avoid travel to Norway," the CDC says on its website. "If you must travel to Norway, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel." The CDC lists Denmark and Sweden with a level 3, or "high," travel advisory.
Denmark lifted all of its restrictions two weeks prior to Norway’s announcement. The government no longer requires digital proof of vaccination to enter nightclubs, saying the virus is no longer “a socially critical disease." Denmark’s health minister Magnus Heunicke offered an explanation for the shift in policy:
This can only be done because we have come a long way with the vaccination rollout, have a strong epidemic control, and because the entire Danish population has made an enormous effort to get here.
Around 75% of the Danish population is fully vaccinated with at least 77% having received at least one dose. The fully vaccinated include around 96% of people who are over 50 years old, according to the Foundation for Economic Education.
In Sweden, 64% are fully vaccinated and 69% have received at least one dose.
Sweden has been criticized for taking a less stringent approach to pandemic restrictions. Sweden's death rate of 1,462 confirmed deaths per million is much higher than that of both Denmark and Norway, where deaths number 457 per million and 156 per million respectively, according to Our World in Data. However, Sweden's death rate is lower than several Western countries, including Spain, with 1,847 deaths per million; Britain, 2,005; the U.S. 2,080; and Italy, 2,167.
Daily COVID deaths are low in all three countries. According to Our World in Data, Sweden saw approximately nine confirmed deaths in the most recent seven-day rolling average, while Norway saw one death and Denmark three deaths. Adjusting for population, that's 0.84, 0.26, and 0.47 deaths per million, respectively.
