Sweden says it will provide free testing for anyone showing coronavirus symptoms and conduct contact tracing for those who are infected.
The announcement comes as the country says it will also allow domestic travel across the country, almost three months after it was discouraged in line with anti-virus measures.
The aim of the new testing program is to control infection rates in the country, which did not impose strict lockdown measures like many of its European neighbors.
The government says it will dedicate 5.9 billion Swedish kronor ($640 million), in addition to a billion kroner already promised, to cover the costs of testing and contact tracing.
“From now on, everyone with symptoms will be able to test themselves for COVID-19 free of cost,” Minister for Financial Markets Per Bolund tells reporters.
Both tests to screen for active infections and serological tests to discover previous infections will be made widely available.
Sweden has reported nearly 42,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 4,500 deaths, according to the latest figures Thursday.
— AFP
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 4, 2020
