Sweden may change lockdown stance

Sweden’s state epidemiologist has said that he is now willing to recommend lockdown measures such as school closures and strict limits to the size of gatherings – so long as they are only imposed locally and for three weeks at a time. The Public Health Agency of Sweden’s new approach to local restrictions, floated first at a press conference on Wednesday; its biggest strategic shift since in March. ‘‘We are thinking of fairly short restrictions. To break the spread of infection requires perhaps two to three weeks at most,’’ Anders Tegnell said.