STOCKHOLM: Sweden plans to restrict the number of passengers on long-distance trains and buses in an effort to prevent a pick-up in new COVID-19 cases and the spread of mutations of the virus that could be more infectious, the government said on Tuesday.
The government has been ratcheting up measures since a second wave of infections hit Sweden toward the end of last year, but the country’s response remains less heavy-handed than the full lockdowns adopted in many parts of Europe.
Starting Feb. 14, trains and buses will only be allowed to run at half capacity if the journey is longer than 150 kilometres, the government said. The curb will be in place through the end of May.
Exceptions will be made for people who have already bought tickets.
“The situation with the pandemic looks much brighter than it did a couple of months ago,” Minister of Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren told a news conference.
“But … there is a real risk for a third wave and the situation could, therefore, quickly become worse.”
Sweden’s schools take a week’s holiday at the beginning of March and many families use the opportunity to travel. Many of those trips will already have been booked and the new rules are unlikely to reduce traffic much during that period, the government acknowledged.
Infection rates in Sweden have slowed in recent weeks with daily numbers running at less than half the level of late December.
However, there has been an increase in people with the strain of the virus first identified in Britain, and the Public Health Agency has warned of the risk of a third wave.
The first wave of the virus hit Sweden following the March school holiday a year ago, with many Swedes becoming infected during skiing trips in the Alps.
The country of 10 million has had 588,062 confirmed COVID cases and 12,115 deaths, a rate per capita is many times higher than its Nordic neighbours, but lower than several European countries that opted for lockdowns.
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