Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday

Left Party threatens to topple government over market rents

The Left Party has been threatening to topple the government over a controversial proposal to remove Sweden’s hotly debated rent cap on newly built apartments. But the party only has a week left to put forward a vote of no confidence before parliament goes into recess. The TT newswire reports that it is currently struggling to collect enough signatures for the vote.

The rent cap proposal is part of the so-called January Agreement between the ruling Social Democrat-Green government and the Centre and Liberal parties. According to its supporters (mainly on the right), it will help create more apartments and shorter housing queues. Its critics (mainly on the left) are worried it is the first step towards rolling out market rents for all apartments, and will lead to higher rents.

The Left Party is expected to announce its decision at a press conference at 10am today.

Swedish vocabulary: vote of no confidence – misstroendevotum

Stockholm battered by record rain storm

The massive downpour in Stockholm on Saturday is one of the worst in the 60 years the Swedish capital has been keeping records. In Högdalen, southern Stockholm, 81.9 millimetres of rain fell in 24 hours, something that has only happened a few times since 1961.

In 2005, 89 millimetres of rain fell in Stockholm district Skärholmen.

Swedish vocabulary: downpour – skyfall

Fewer suicides in Sweden during pandemic

Fewer people took their own lives in Sweden in 2020 compared to the year before: 1,441 people, a decrease of 144, reports Swedish news agency TT. The decrease was mainly noted among midlife adults, while the number of cases increased among men aged over 85. Suicide made up 32 percent of all deaths of people aged 15-29 last year.

Readers in Sweden seeking support about mental health about can contact mental health awareness organisation Mind or call Sweden’s national health hotline 1177 for help in English.

Swedish vocabulary: mental health – mental hälsa

Half of all adults in Sweden have now received a Covid-19 vaccine

Since it began its vaccination programme on December 26th, 2020, 4.1 million adults in Sweden have received a Covid-19 vaccination, of which 2.2 million have received both doses, the Public Health Agency said. That’s equivalent to 51 percent and 27 percent of the adult population respectively.

Currently, Sweden is only offering the vaccine to people aged over 18, unlike some countries like Germany for example. The vaccines currently being used in Sweden all require two doses to be fully effective.

Continue reading HERE to see how Sweden compares to its European neighbours.

Swedish vocabulary: Germany – Tyskland

Sweden on Monday announced the milestone of having given a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination to 51 percent of adults in the country, though it lags slightly behind many European neighbours on vaccination rate. https://t.co/QYK7aiDcFp

— The Local Sweden (@TheLocalSweden) June 14, 2021

Sweden’s infectious disease database shuts again

The SmiNet database, where reports of infectious diseases are stored in Sweden, has again been closed for security reasons, reports the Public Health Agency. It writes that the database was closed at 9.45pm on June 13th to investigate a possible security flaw.

SmiNet was also closed for two days in late May after a series of attempted data breaches, as The Local reported at the time. This meant that Sweden, which normally updates its public coronavirus data between Tuesday and Friday, did not release any updates for a week. It is not clear how long the database will be closed this time.

Swedish vocabulary: infectious diseases – infektionssjukdomar