The Netherlands has slowed down its opening, while England, with a much higher spread of infection, chooses to abolish virtually all restrictions.

At the same time, France is in the process of introducing strict rules to speed up vaccination in the country - vaccination certificates or negative test results will be required to, for example, be allowed to go to a restaurant, and vaccination requirements will be introduced for healthcare professionals.

Why the countries act differently is a question that should be asked of politicians, says Jan Albert, professor of infection control at Karolinska Institutet.

- There is really no logic in it from the point of view of the spread of infection, except that the situation is a little different in different countries.

England, which is easing up, has a very high number of new cases per day compared to, for example, Sweden, up to 20 times higher, he says.

Factors such as the degree of vaccination, how important tourism is for the economy and public opinion are likely to play a role, Jan Albert believes.

- It is about how to weigh the disadvantages of continued closing against the risks of opening up.

There you come to a few different conclusions.

Delta variants worry

Many of the countries that have moved towards stricter restrictions have done so with reference to the delta variant of the virus being spread.

The variant is more contagious than other viruses and now dominates among the number of new cases in several places.

- It is replacing the previous variants.

I share the concern that there will be more cases than if it did not exist, says Jan Albert.

But in England and the Netherlands, for example, where the variant has become widespread, the number of new deaths and hospitalizations has not increased at the same rate.

- We can thank the vaccines for that, they provide good protection against serious illness even if it seems to be a little lower against the delta variant.

Do we really need to be so worried about the delta variant?

- It depends on who you ask. I think that the situation in Sweden right now means that we can take another step towards reduced restrictions, it is not the case that the restrictions disappear completely as in England. We have a low spread of infection and few are hospitalized, says Jan Albert.