Sweden: As the Omicron variant spreads across the country, causing acute staff shortages, Sweden will relax quarantine regulations to avert the collapse of essential services. At a press conference on Thursday, Sara Byfors of the Swedish Public Health Agency remarked, "We now see a significant impact on society due to Covid-19."
Several organizations have recently experienced personnel shortages as a result of many employees being infected with Covid-19 or being placed on a seven-day quarantine due to someone else in their family contracting the virus, according state media reports.
According to the Swedish Police, 10% of their staff was off on Wednesday, and contingency measures were being made. Schools and transit firms have also reported serious staff shortages, according to the Public Health Agency, and this is before the Omicron wave has even reached its peak.
Quarantine has been reduced from seven to five days under the new guidelines, with no symptoms for the previous two days, according to the agency, which held a joint press conference with the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the National Board of Health and Welfare. Furthermore, people who have received three vaccine doses, which amounted for 39.6% of the population aged 18 and up on Thursday, or who have recovered from Covid-19 in the previous three months are exempt from quarantine if a member of the household is infected.
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