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Sweden sacrifices the elderly. Greed and privatization had made the situation in nursing homes unbearable. And when an epidemic occurred, the problems became catastrophic.
When it became clear that Sweden would take its own different path in the fight against the coronavirus, the elderly in her country were promised reliable protection against infection. It was more than clear that in a society that relies on the voluntary principle instead of prohibitions and sanctions, this risk group must be particularly well protected, says the German “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (ZC).
Total failure
But no later than Easter, it became clear that the country had failed catastrophically on this issue, the publication commented. Statistics confirm this conclusion. The death toll in the country is now 3,313, according to Johns Hopkins University on May 13. This is more than 3 times more than in the neighboring countries of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, combined.
Most victims are elderly people in nursing homes or people who receive social services at home. In this context, the Finnish state channel YLE commented that Sweden had “sacrificed the elderly”. And the Swedish Aftonbladet wrote: “Of all the northern peoples, we have done the worst to protect the elderly.”
The catastrophe was predictable.
Even government officials, who until recently displayed enviable self-confidence, now admit that they have failed in this regard. As a justification, they point to the “surprise”: they claim that no one has guessed how poorly the nursing homes in the country are.
However, Ingmar Skoog, a professor of medicine in Gothenburg, disagrees. According to him, what happened could have been foreseen. According to him, the coronavirus crisis has shown even more clearly for years the deficiencies in medical care in the country.
Austerity and privatization in the sector have led to the situation in nursing homes being marked by severe shortages, says a Swedish doctor. And Aftonbladet’s comment is even more emphatic: “Greed and privatization have been deadly.”
Many mistakes were made
It is more than clear that many mistakes have been made in Sweden, for example, that workers in the sector have not been evaluated for Kovid-19; or that the health authorities have not paid much attention to infected people who do not show the typical symptoms of the disease.
Meanwhile, the authorities have stepped up the stricter measures and the number of infected people has started to decrease slightly. Prime Minister Stefan Leuven announced that conditions in social institutions would improve, but did not mention any details. However, no one clearly feels personally responsible for the spread of the coronavirus through Swedish nursing homes.
Sweden
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