Sweden scraps negative Covid-19 tests for inbound travellers

The government considers the new variant of low risk to public health

Sweden is scrapping the negative Covid-19 test for travelers entering the country, considering the Omicron variant of low risk for public health.

Visitors arriving in Sweden will no longer be required to take a negative Covid-19 test to enter the country, the government announced today.

Sweden introduced a measure on December 28 last year that required a recent negative test, in an effort to curb the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant. Since then, Sweden has repeatedly recorded a daily record number of cases, with Omicron now the dominant variant of the new coronavirus.

“Travellers are no longer considered to pose a particular risk of affecting Omicron’s spread in Sweden,” the government said in a statement.

The country has recorded more than 20,000 daily cases in recent days, almost double the record set in previous pandemic waves. The number of cases has put pressure on health services, but not to the same extent as before the vaccination of the population.

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