Sweden is experiencing the lowest number of new cases of infection with the new coronavirus since March, when the pandemic exploded in Europe. Despite the controversial approach of not being confined and almost six thousand deaths in total, Swedes now have one of the lowest contagion rates and a residual number of deaths.
The seven-day average of new cases in the Scandinavian country it stands at 108, the lowest level since March 13. Data from the Swedish national health agency show that only 1.2% of the 120,000 tests last week were positive.
According to European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, the cumulative total of new cases of 14 days in Sweden it is 22.2 per hundred thousand inhabitants, against 64.1 in Portugal, 279 in Spain, 158.5 in France, 118 in the Czech Republic, 77 in Belgium and 59 in the United Kingdom, all countries that have imposed strict confinements between March and May.
At this time, only 13 patients with covid-19 are in intensive care in Swedish hospitals and the average seven days of coronavirus-related deaths is zero.
The country’s main epidemiologist, Andreas Tegnell, argues that the strategy, criticized by many, was the most correct. “In the end, we’ll see what difference a more sustainable strategy will have, one that can be maintained for a long time, instead of the strategy that means confining, opening and confining again”, summarized Tegnell, as the DN has already reported.
The population of ten million was asked, rather than ordered, to respect physical distance and telework, if possible, which largely happened. But shops, bars, restaurants and gyms remained open and wearing masks has not been recommended until now.
Tegnell insists that the goal was not to achieve collective immunity, but to reduce the spread of the coronavirus enough that health services could deal with the situation. And he says, repeatedly, that Sweden’s strategy may be the most sustainable in the long run.
Jonas Ludvigsson, professor of Epidemiology at the respected Stockholm Karolinska Institutet, told the Swedish press, quoted by the newspaper The Guardian, that “Sweden’s strategy has been consistent and sustainable. We probably now have a lower risk of spread compared to other countries”.
But deaths were very high, almost five times more than in Portugal, with Andreas Tegnell saying that the high mortality rate is not related to the general strategy, but to the failure to prevent the spread of the virus in homes and homes. country, where most of Sweden’s 5851 deaths occurred. “Of course, something went wrong,” he said. In total cases of covid-19, Sweden registered 87 345.
The storm seems to have passed and, this Tuesday, Swedish households received the official news that they will reopen abroad, with visits to be allowed from October, after months of prohibition. The measure, imposed in early April, was one of Sweden’s few mandatory restrictions. Another was the ban on public meetings of more than 50 people, which is still in effect.
Health Minister Lena Hallengren said on Tuesday that visits to nursing homes will be allowed again from October 1, after the drop in the number of new cases since June.
“We are in a continuous pandemic, even if things are moving in the right direction at the moment,” said Hallengren, emphasizing that he wants “all Swedes to take responsibility”.
Of the approximately 3,400 deaths recorded in Sweden between January and May, almost half occurred in care centers for the elderly. In late April, the minister recognized the deaths as “a failure for society as a whole”. One of the problems was the lack of personnel in the homes and the government has already announced its intention to hire ten thousand more people to work in the care of the elderly.
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