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Of: TT
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Photo: Amir Nabizadeh / TT
STOCKHOLM 20201022 Prime Minister Stefan Löfven during a press conference on the government’s decision on stricter rules to curb congestion in nightclubs, but also that a seated audience of up to 300 should be allowed at cultural and sporting events.
Seated audiences of up to 300 people are allowed at cultural and sporting events starting November 1, with a maximum of two at each party.
Nightclubs, on the other hand, will have stricter restrictions with a reintroduced maximum ceiling of 50 people.
– It should be finalized now, says Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S).
Alarms about the increasing spread of the infection in Sweden have been sounding loudly; At the same time, the government is reducing the limit for cultural and sporting events from November 1.
Theater performances, concerts, movie screenings and sporting events can have a maximum of 300 people in the audience, compared to the current maximum limit of 50 people. The new roof also applies to other events, such as religious gatherings.
Two people from the same company should be allowed to sit next to each other, and the audience should be kept one meter apart.
– Participants must be assigned a seat with at least one meter distance from each other, and conditions must be created for participants to maintain that distance, says the Minister of Culture and Sports Amanda Lind (MP).
Previously, the plan was for the facilities for cultural and sporting events to have come into effect on October 15. Then there was talk of fixing the ceiling to 500 people, but now the relief takes effect on November 1, and with a slightly lower ceiling.
Assume the responsibility
– Organizers from the sports and culture sector have shown a clear willingness to take responsibility for implementing the events. Now they have the opportunity to take on this responsibility, says Lind.
However, this does not mean that the danger has passed in Sweden, he emphasizes.
– The situation remains serious and a great responsibility falls on the organizers to ensure that the requirements are met, says Lind.
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) says the Swedish Public Health Agency’s assessment is that the change does not increase the risk of infection more than “very marginally”.
– We want to facilitate as much as possible without risking a rapid spread of the infection, he says.
Congestion on the dance floor stops
However, public dance events with more than 50 people are again prohibited. The prime minister shouted at the club’s organizers who had attracted media attention for the congestion on the dance floor.
– Too many shortcomings, too much congestion has been reported too many times in nightclubs. Here, medical staff work day and night, then it becomes disrespectful for the same staff to search the evening papers and see photos of crowded dance floors. That doesn’t hold up, says Löfven.
Threatened credibility
The tightening means in practice that nightclubs with more than 50 people are no longer allowed, adds Interior Minister Mikael Damberg (S).
– We must be clear that this (congestion in clubs, red note) was not what we saw in front of us and then we must press this. I think the credibility of the long-term strategy was threatened by these images with people in discos at night, says Damberg.
The interior minister is warning the club’s organizers to challenge the new provision – they risk being punished, according to Damberg.
– That is why it is not a recommendation that you can do whatever you want. In the sense of criminal law, whoever organizes a dance event will be responsible for compliance with the Prohibition Ordinance, he says.
Maximum eight around the table
A third message from the government is that the law on temporary infection control measures in restaurants is extended by five months. It would have stopped at the beginning of the year.
The Swedish Public Health Agency also proposes that the rules for restaurants be tightened to a maximum of eight people per party. The proposal has been sent for consultation.
– We are still in the middle of a serious pandemic. It is important that everyone assume a common and better responsibility for the development of the country, says the director general of the Public Health Agency, Johan Carlson.
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