Sweden bans travellers from Britain, Denmark over new COVID strain

Sweden will stop allowing in foreign travellers from Britain and Denmark in a bid to curb the rapid spread of a new strain of the coronavirus, the government said on Monday. "To minimize the risk of it spreading here, the government has today decided on a ban of entry," Minister for the Interior Mikael Damberg told a news conference, adding that Swedish citizens were exempt from the ban.

Sweden will stop allowing in foreign travellers from Britain and Denmark in a bid to curb the rapid spread of a new strain of the coronavirus, the government said on Monday.

"To minimize the risk of it spreading here, the government has today decided on a ban of entry," Minister for the Interior Mikael Damberg told a news conference, adding that Swedish citizens were exempt from the ban. The ban will take effect from midnight on Monday. In addition, Sweden will stop all flights from Britain for 48 hours.

Damberg also said all people that have arrived from Denmark and Britain since Dec. 12 would have to get tested and all Swedes arriving from the two countries would have to self-isolate for one week. It is the first time since the pandemic emerged that Sweden has closed its borders to any country within the EU. Sweden has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, instead largely relying on voluntary measures focused on social distancing and good hygiene.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that the new strain had led to spiralling infection numbers, and several European countries have since announced restrictions on travel. Denmark's infectious disease authority said last week it had found nine cases of coronavirus infections involving the new strain from Nov 14. to Dec. 3. It said it was monitoring the new strain closely.