Sweden tightens COVID restrictions as cases mount

STOCKHOLM - Sweden will urge all employees to work from home if possible and impose tighter rules for social distancing, the government said on Tuesday, as it ratchets up restrictions aimed at fighting a surge in new infections of the COVID-19 virus.

The new rules also will also require seated-only service at bars and restaurants as well as at larger public events.

"We must now take joint responsibility and we need to adapt to the new reality," Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told a news conference. "I understand that many are tired of this - so am I - but we now have a new virus variant, which means we are in a new situation."