Swedish health agency says risk of local coronavirus contagion now "very high"

Sweden's Public Health Agency on Tuesday raised the risk level for local contagion of the new coronavirus to "very high" from "moderate" and said it was seeing signs of community spread in the Nordic country. The agency said in a statement it was seeing signs of community spread of the virus in the regions centred around the two biggest cities, Stockholm and Gothenberg.

"The agency does not see general contagion all over the country, but the risk level is now being raised to the highest possible," it said. The announcement came minutes after the Stockholm region reported a jump in confirmed coronavirus cases to 207, an increase of 60 since yesterday.