COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden
The COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden is part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Sweden on 31 January 2020, when a woman returning from Wuhan tested positive. On 26 February, following outbreaks in Italy and in Iran, multiple travel-related clusters appeared in Sweden. Community transmission was confirmed on 9 March in the Stockholm Metropolitan Area. Since then, individuals in every län (county) have tested positive for COVID-19. The first death was reported on 11 March in Stockholm, a case of community transmission. However, it is believed that the virus could have reached Sweden as early as December 2019, when several individuals sought care for respiratory illness in Falun after contact with an individual with recent travel history to Wuhan.

Sweden has not imposed a lockdown, unlike many other countries, and kept large parts of its society open. The Swedish Constitution legally protects the freedom of movement for the people, thus preventing a lockdown in peace time. The Swedish public is expected to follow a series of non-voluntary recommendations from the government agency responsible for this area, in this case the Public Health Agency of Sweden ("Folkhälsomyndigheten"). The Swedish Constitution prohibits ministerial rule – politicians overruling the advice from its agencies is extremely unusual in Sweden – and mandates that the relevant government body, in this case an expert agency – the Public Health Agency – must initiate all actions to prevent the virus in accordance with Swedish law, rendering state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell a central figure in the crisis.

The Swedish government's approach has received considerable criticism. Some Swedish scientists had called for stricter preventative measures throughout the pandemic, and an independent commission (Coronakommissionen) found that Sweden failed to protect care home residents due to the overall spread of the virus in society. In December 2020 both King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven admitted they felt that Sweden's COVID-19 strategy had been a failure due to the large number of deaths.

Following agency advice, the government has passed legislation limiting freedom of assembly by temporarily banning gatherings of over 50 individuals, banning people from visiting nursing homes, and physically closing secondary schools and universities. Primary schools have remained open, in part to avoid healthcare workers staying home with their children. 
The Public Health Agency issued recommendations to: if possible, work from home; avoid unnecessary travel within the country; engage in social distancing; and for people above 70 to stay at home, as much as possible. Those with even minimal symptoms that could be caused by COVID-19 are recommended to stay home. The "karensdag", or initial day without paid sick-leave, has been removed by the government and the length of time one can stay home with pay without a doctor's note has been raised from 7 to 21 days.
The pandemic has put the Swedish healthcare system under severe strain, with tens of thousands of operations being postponed throughout the year, and only emergency and COVID-related care being available during a surge in the winter. Initially, Swedish hospitals and other facilities reported a shortage of personal protective equipment. Swedish hospitals were able to increase their intensive care capacity during the earlier stages of the pandemic, but Stockholm's health system still became seriously overwhelmed during the winter surge, with intensive care bed occupancy reaching 99% by 18 December and the city experiencing healthcare staff shortages.

On 10 January 2021, around 10 months after the outbreak became serious, legislation was passed permitting more restrictions than was possible with existing laws. The new laws allowed limiting number of visitors to shops, in opposite to the advise existing before. Before this, restrictions were based on existing laws, for example the law on public order which allowed limiting the number of visitors to cultural and sports events and restaurants.
As of , there have been confirmed cumulative cases and deaths with confirmed COVID-19 in Sweden, with Stockholm County being the most affected (during first wave). Sweden has several times the number of confirmed cases and deaths of all neighboring Scandinavian countries; but several other European countries have higher rates of confirmed cases and deaths per capita than Sweden. Close to half of those who died had been living at nursing homes, a proportion which is similar to other European countries.
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Sweden
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in Italy
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COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden
Concept
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2019
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31 January 2020
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10 January 2021
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