The Government’s work in response to the virus responsible for COVID-19

On 20–23 April, Minister for Finance Mikael Damberg and Minister for International Development Cooperation Matilda Ernkrans will attend the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) and the World Bank Group’s Spring Meetings in Washington DC. The Spring Meetings will focus on the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and what the rest of the world should do to support Ukraine and address the impact.

During the years 2020–2022 the Government imposed a ban on entry to Sweden to prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 entering the country or being spread to other countries. Rules and exemptions differed over time and depending on which country you were travelling from. All entry restrictions linked to COVID-19 have now ceased to apply (as of 1 April 2022).

In July 2020, EU heads of state and government agreed on a recovery package to mitigate the effects of the crisis. The package, called NextGenerationEU, comprises EUR 750 billion in loans and grants to the Member States. The main part of this will be channelled through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

The ban on entry to Sweden from countries outside the EU/EEA will not be extended and will cease to apply on 1 April 2022. This also means that the requirement to present vaccination and test certificates when entering Sweden will be removed.

On 18 January, the Government will submit an initial additional amending budget for 2022 to the Riksdag. The budget includes, among other things, increased crisis support to culture and sport. In addition to the proposals presented earlier, an additional SEK 100 million is now being allocated to culture and sport.

Heads of state and government from the EU and the African Union (AU) will meet in Brussels on 17–18 February. It is the seventh time the EU and AU leaders will meet. The aim is to establish foundations for a renewed and deepened partnership between the two unions. The leaders are expected to adopt a joint declaration on closer cooperation in a range of areas. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will represent Sweden.

Cultural activities and actors throughout the country have been severely affected by the pandemic. The Government is now setting up a new consultation forum for the cultural sector and is investing more than SEK 1 billion in culture through the distribution of previously announced support and proposals in the additional amending budget.

The Government is proposing enhanced support to civil society in an additional amending budget to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The proposal involves temporary support of SEK 50 million to civil society child and youth organisations. In addition, special investments of SEK 80 million are proposed for civil society organisations working with particularly vulnerable groups. According to the Riksdag’s preliminary schedule, the budget will be adopted on 24 February.

On 7 February, the Government decided on the distribution of the SEK 1 billion in crisis support allocated to culture, as previously announced in the additional amending budget. The crisis support concerns independent cultural life, individual cultural creators, film, regional culture, certain publicly supported cultural institutions and public venues.

The Government decided to lift the entry ban to Sweden from the Nordic countries and other EU and EEA countries at an extraordinary government meeting today. The decision will come into effect on 9 February.

Read more about the Government’s COVID-19 measures in the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs’ policy areas of public health, medical care, social care and social insurance. The date in the title indicates when the article was written.

The phasing out of measures in response to COVID-19 will begin on 9 February 2022. As of that date, measures such as the participant limit for public gatherings and events and the possibility to demand vaccination certificates upon entry will be removed. The same will apply to other restrictions, such as the requirement of social distancing between groups and cap on group sizes.

The Government today decided to revert to the entry restrictions that applied prior to 28 December 2021. This means that the specific requirement for a negative COVID-19 result from a test conducted within 48 hours of arrival no longer applies. This decision is based on a request from the Public Health Agency of Sweden. The list of countries with approved vaccine certificates has also been expanded. The amendments will enter into force on 21 January.

On 12 January 2022, stricter infection control measures will be introduced due to the significant increase in community transmission at the same time as there is increased pressure on health care. The overall assessment is that Sweden is in a situation where it is necessary to take certain infection control measures in stage 3 of the Government’s action plan for introducing infection control measures.

The Government decided today to amend the entry ban to Sweden. The amendments mean that all travellers must be able to present a negative test result for ongoing COVID-19 infection upon arrival to Sweden, regardless of the country they travel from. The decision is based on the increasing spread of infection and a request from the Public Health Agency of Sweden. The amendments will enter into force on 28 December.

On 23 December, more infection control measures will be introduced in accordance with the Government’s action plan for introducing infection control measures. This is due to the increased community transmission of COVID-19 and the increased burden on health and medical care services.

Read more about the Government’s COVID-19 measures in the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs’ policy areas of public health, medical care, social care and social insurance. The date in the title indicates when the article was written.

The Government today decided to amend the ban on entry into Sweden. The amendments mean that all travellers in the EU/EEA are subject to the same requirements for entry into Sweden. The decision was made due to the increasing spread of infection and based on a request from the Public Health Agency of Sweden. The list of countries with approved vaccine certificates has also been updated. The amendments come into effect on 21 December.

Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will take part in the European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday 16 December.

The Government has introduced further COVID-19 infection control measures due to increased transmission rates and somewhat growing pressure on health care services. The Government also wants to reintroduce further support and compensation to reduce community transmission. Furthermore, the Government is presenting a plan for business support that may be reintroduced if stricter social restrictions need to be reimposed. Vaccinations remain the key to reducing the risk of infection, disease and death, and to avoiding the introduction of further measures.