2 MEASURES TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE PANDEMIC 2 Measures to deal with the consequences of the pandemic 2.1 A disease that poses a danger to the public or society The rules regarding diseases which pose a danger to the public or society can be found in, inter alia, the Communicable Diseases Act (2004:168) and the Communicable Diseases Ordinance (2004:255). The Public Health Agency of Sweden is tasked with issuing regulations and general advice regarding such diseases. Since 2 February 2020, Covid-19 has been defined as a disease which poses a danger to the public or society1. A disease posing a danger to the public is a contagious disease that can be life-threatening, Covid-19 is a involve long-term illness or sevedisease which re suffering or have other serious poses a danger consequences, and one where it is to the public and possible to prevent the spread of infection through measures aimed society at infected people. A disease dangerous for society is a generally dangerous disease that can spread through society, and which entails a serious disturbance or imminent risk of a serious disturbance in important societal functions and which requires extraordinary infection control measures.2 Through careful and reasonable precautionary measures, everyone must contribute to preventing the spread 1 See the Ordinance (2020:20) that the provisions of the Communicable Diseases Act (2004:168) on diseases posing a risk to the public and society should apply to infection with 2019-nCoV. The Ordinance expired on 1 July 2020 and was replaced by new descriptions found in Annexes I and II to the Communicable Diseases Act. See the Act (2020:242) amending the Communicable Diseases Act. The virus formerly known as 2019-nCoV is now called SARS-CoV-2. 2 Chapter 1, Section 3, second and third paragraphs of the Communicable Diseases Act. of infectious diseases. Anyone who knows or has reason to suspect that they are carrying an infectious disease is obliged to take the necessary measures to protect others from the risk of infection. Anyone who knows that they are carrying a disease dangerous for the public is obliged to inform other people with whom they come into contact concerning the infection and that a significant risk of transmission of infection may arise.3 2.2 Measures to reduce the risk of spreading infection Both the Swedish Parliament and Government have taken measures to reduce the risk of the spread of Covid-19. Besides the disease being defined as both a danger to the public and society as a whole, provisions were introduced in the spring of 2020 with the aim of limiting physical contact between people and protecting people who are particularly vulnerable in the event of the spread of infection. This meant, inter alia, a limit on people physically gathering was introduced and that the National Board of Health and Welfare was able to redistribute protective equipment and testing equipment. The Public Health Agency of Sweden issued regulations and general advice for everyone to follow in order to reduce the spread of infection of Covid-19.4 Based on the wording of these regulations and the general advice that applied during the period in which these investigations took place, it follows that all organisations 3 Chapter 2, Section 1 and 2 of the Communicable Diseases Act. 4 See the Public Health Agency of Sweden’s regulations and general advice (HSLF-FS 2020:12) on everybody’s responsibility to prevent the infection of COVID-19 et al. – 12 –