The ban on entry to Sweden from countries outside the European Union/European Economic Area will not be extended and will cease to apply on Friday April 1, the country’s Ministry of Justice announced. This also means that the requirement to present vaccination and test certificates when entering Sweden will be removed.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, a temporary ban on entry into Sweden for foreign nationals traveling from countries outside the E.U./E.E.A. was introduced in March 2020. It has been regularly extended and the current entry ban applies until March 31, 2022. The Swedish government in its announcement noted that several countries in the E.U. and E.E.A. have recently lifted bans on entry into their respective countries and that its Public Health Agency no longer considers entry restrictions as a proportionate infection control measure.
On April 1, COVID-19 will no longer be classified as a threat to public health and a danger to society. Although the pandemic is not over, the Ministry of Justice says, it has entered a new phase thanks to high vaccination coverage combined with the lower risk of serious illness posed by the currently dominant virus variant, omicron.
Sweden lifted its entry ban on E.U./E.E.A. countries in February.
The New York Times reports that Sweden is averaging under 900 new COVID cases per day (eight per 100,000), a 34 percent drop in the past two weeks. There are .19 deaths per 100,000 daily and 74 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
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