Today in Sweden: A round-up of the latest news on Tuesday

Schools close over coronavirus infection

A number of schools and preschools have recently had to close in several towns and cities in Sweden after confirmed spread of the coronavirus among staff or students.

One of these is the Sunnerbo upper secondary school in the town of Ljungby in the Småland region, reports the TT newswire. It had meant to reopen this week, but after new cases of the virus were confirmed it switched to online teaching for the rest of the semester – with the exception of for example exams and special needs.

One course at the Virginska upper secondary school in Örebro also closed this week, with the municipality writing that the reason was staff shortages following Covid-19. Hälle preschool in Ljungskile also closed for a couple of days due to staff illness. In Huddinge, south of Stockholm, lower secondary students at two schools have had to switch to online teaching for one and two weeks, respectively, after several confirmed cases.

In Malmö, the municipality has already, as a precautionary measure, ordered upper secondary schools to have most of their hours online, to cut crowds on public transport.

Swedish vocabulary: upper secondary school – gymnasieskola

• How international parents feel about school starting again in Sweden

File photo of students at home. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

Floods as autumn storm batters Sweden

An autumn storm that hit the west coast of Sweden in the early hours of Monday later moved north, causing flooded city districts, redirected flights and power blackouts for thousands.

Several roads and bicycle lanes were flooded in the northern cities of Örnsköldsvik and Umeå, which hit the Rödäng district in the latter city particularly hard. Residents were asked to stay at home after the Tvärån river burst its banks.

More than 20 millimetres of rain fell between 7am on Sunday and 7am on Monday in large parts of the Västerbotten region, and another 30 millimetres fell on Monday, reports TT, citing figures by Sweden's national weather agency SMHI.

Swedish vocabulary: flooding – översvämning

A truck driving through water south of Gothenburg on Monday. Photo: Adam Ihse/TT

Cash boost for Swedish local authorities

Sweden's centre-left coalition government and its centre-right partners in parliament were set to agree on Tuesday to earmark another ten billion kronor for the country's 290 municipalities and 21 regions to compensate for extra costs during the coronavirus crisis – in addition to another ten billion already awarded to local and regional authorities.

“Money will not stand in the way of good healthcare and social care,” Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson told the Dagens Nyheter daily.

Municipalities (which are generally responsible for elderly care) and regions (which are generally responsible for healthcare) will have to apply to the National Board of Health and Welfare to get their share of the cash, which is meant to help cover for example extra healthcare equipment or staff having to work overtime.

Swedish vocabulary: overtime – övertid

A nurse carrying out coronavirus testing in Sweden. Photo: Mikael Fritzon/TT

More updates on coronavirus spread

The Stockholm region will, in addition to its biweekly reports on Tuesdays and Fridays, start publishing preliminary reports on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, due to the increased spread of coronavirus in the region. A total of 203 Covid-19 patients are currently being treated in Stockholm hospitals, out of whom 20 are in intensive care.

Stockholm isn't the only region currently experiencing coronavirus outbreaks. The Local has put together this article with 21 graphs that let you track the spread of the virus across each region in Sweden since March.

Swedish vocabulary: outbreak – utbrott

More organ donations despite pandemic

There had been concerns that the number of donations would fall this year, considering the pressure on Swedish healthcare during the pandemic as well as the fact that nobody who died with Covid-19 was able to donate organs due to the infection risk.

But instead, a total of 141 people have donated organs after their death (the data covers the period up until September 30th) in Sweden this year, 12 more than the same period last year, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare.

Swedish vocabulary: healthcare – sjukvård

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