Changes in rules of conduct regarding covid-19

The spread of Covid-19 is very high and continues to increase. The pressure on healthcare services remains high. The spread of infection also leads to a risk of staff shortages that may affect important functions of the society. This is due to the number of people who are ill or at home caring for children, or due to the rules of conduct that apply to households. 

The Public Health Agency of Sweden is therefore now making the following changes to the rules:

The time for staying home from work or school when someone is ill in the household is shortened to five days, calculated from the time the person in the household received symptoms.

The following groups are exempt from the rule of staying home from work and school when someone in the same household is ill:
• Those who have been vaccinated with a booster (third dose)
• People who have had Covid-19 at some point in the last three months
• Certain key societal functions which do not meet any of the above mentioned criteria for exemption, provided that measures to reduce risk are introduced.

Key functions are further defined by MSB (The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency). Employers inform those who are affected.

The time for how long the person who has confirmed Covid-19 should at least stay at home is shortened to five days. As before, you must be recovered, including fever-free for 48 hours.

Those who live in the same household as someone who is ill with Covid-19 and are exempt from the rules of conduct about staying home from work and school should continue to avoid close contacts insofar as possible, and completely avoid close contacts outside work or school. Everyone, even those who are excluded, should work from home as far as possible.

Prioritization of PCR testing

During a transitional period, the Public Health Agency of Sweden recommends the regions to give lower priority to testing of people who do not need to be physically present at work. People who are not able to get tested should avoid close contact outside the household during the period of illness.

Anyone who has taken an antigen test, also called a rapid test, and received a positive test result should consider themselves infected with Covid-19. However, a negative self-test does not exclude Covid-19. Those who live with someone who has tested positive with an antigen test should stay at home, this also applies to preschool and school children, but not people in the excluded groups.