Sweden experiments with local non-lockdown

 Sweden is moving away from its no-lockdown strategy and preparing strict new rules amid rising coronavirus cases | Business Insider - Adam Payne:

October 18, 2020 - "After opting against lockdown measures throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Sweden is said to be shifting strategies toward the kinds of restrictive measures adopted by most of its neighbors.... Unlike its Nordic neighbors and most other countries, Sweden did not deploy wholesale lockdown measures in response to the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year. Sweden has recorded a much higher per capita death rate than its neighbors since adopting this strategy. It had recorded 5,918 deaths as of Sunday, compared with 278 in Norway and 346 in Finland."

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-shifts-away-no-lockdown-strategy-amid-growing-case-numbers-2020-10

After Months of Minimal COVID-19 Containment, Sweden Appears to Be Considering a New Approach | Time - Jamie Ducharme: 

October 19, 2020 - "In a statement provided to TIME, however, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Sweden rejected that characterization. 'It is not a lockdown but some extra recommendations that could be communicated locally when a need from the regional authorities is communicated and the Public Health Agency so decides,' the spokesperson said."

Read more: https://time.com/5901352/sweden-local-lockdowns/

Uppsala goes into voluntary lockdown because of spike in coronavirus cases | Politico - Charlie Duxbury:

October 24, 2020 - "Uppsala, a city of 230,000 people about an hour’s drive north of Stockholm, on Tuesday became the first place in Sweden to announce tougher localized guidance aimed at slowing a spike in cases of COVID-19, which authorities say has put hospitals there under pressure. Residents were told to avoid public transport and not to socialize with anyone they don’t live with. On Thursday, signs stuck to bus doors told passengers to board 'only if they had to.' Posters on the sides of rubbish bins said: 'The danger is not over.' 

"While this city is hardly unique in announcing new rules this week — a similar tightening of restrictions has occurred across Europe, from Manchester to Brussels to Prague — what makes Uppsala’s approach different is that it is almost wholly voluntary. As it did with its light-touch national approach to fighting the first wave of coronavirus — when borders, schools and businesses were left open — Sweden is now breaking new ground with the hands-off nature of its localized approach. 

"In Uppsala, there are no officials checking why people are using public transport. Shops and restaurants remain open for those who want to use them, and nothing hinders groups of people from getting together. The authorities are just telling people not to do these things and hoping they respond....

"Sweden’s national approach this spring received both plaudits and condemnation.... Swedish lawmakers believe that by giving citizens a greater sense of control, they might be able to achieve greater compliance with restrictions for longer....

"The rules in Uppsala are in some ways just a restatement, if more sternly worded, of what Tegnell and the Swedish government have urged Swedes to do since March: keep their distance from each other and in particular avoid larger social gatherings. But by restating and strengthening the guidance and focusing the message on a specific city, officials hope to get more traction."

Read more: https://www.politico.eu/article/sweden-coronavirus-local-lockdown-uppsala/