This is aimed at those of you who don’t speak Swedish and who’d like to understand some of the key Swedish words related to the pandemic – or ‘pandemin’.
Akuten – A&E, Emergency Room
Apotek – chemist or pharmacist
Hamstra – to hoard, to stockpile
Handsprit – hand sanitizer
Hemarbeta – work from home
Hosta – to cough
Influensa – the flu
Isolering – isolation
Karantän – quarantine
Kris – crisis
Luftburen – airborne
Läkemedel – medicine
Nysa – to sneeze
Permittera – to lay off temporarily, furlough
Prov – test
Smitta – contagion, to infect
Smittbärärbidrag – Social benefit for carriers
Stanna hemma – stay home
Stänga ned – to shut down
Toapapper – toilet paper
Torgskräck – agoraphobia
Tvätta händerna – wash your hands
Tvål – soap
Undantagstillstånd – National Emergency
Utegångsförbud – curfew
Please let me know if you’d like me to add any other important words to this list.
Watching the Swedes 