(Apr. 16, 2020) On April 15, 2020, the group leaders of the Swedish Parliament extended their agreement on temporary parliamentary procedure during the COVID-19 outbreak to last until at least April 29, 2020.
On March 16, 2020, the Swedish group leaders had agreed to a number of measures and changes to parliamentary procedure aimed at reducing the number of members present in the Swedish Parliament and preventing the spread of the coronavirus within the Parliament. The measures included limiting the number of members present during voting from the full 349 to 55. Because the number of votes represented by each party reflects the overall representation of each party in the Parliament but does not reflect regional representation, and because members of Parliament typically follow the party line very closely when voting, the change is not anticipated to alter the final outcome of any vote. Also as of March 16, 2020, all members of the Parliament are allowed to sit anywhere in the assembly when voting to prevent members from sitting too close to each other. Normally, members sit in designated seats, together with other members representing the same geographical part of Sweden. Currently mostly members from Stockholm are voting, representing their entire parties.
All 349 members of Parliament are still considered in service and are expected to continue their work from home via telephone or video technology.
Committees continue to meet using video, and the Committee on European Affairs has increased the number of extra substitutes a party may have.
As of April 16, 2020, Sweden has reported 12,540 confirmed case of COVID-19 and 1,333 fatalities. The Parliament website does not provide information on sick members, but Swedish media has reported that one member of Parliament is hospitalized with COVID-19.