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STefan Löfven chose clear words. When the Swedish Prime Minister appeared before the press in Stockholm, he had a basic message. It was November, it started, the darkest month of the year, darkness will remain for a while, “and sadly it also seems that we are moving into darker times when it comes to the spread of infections in parts of the world, in Europe and in Sweden. . goes “.
Matthias Wyssuwa
Political Correspondent for Northern Germany and Scandinavia based in Hamburg.
All the signals were going in the wrong and undesirable direction. There is a risk that the situation is “completely dark,” he said. “We run the risk of more people getting sick, more people dying,” more overworked people in the healthcare system, and more operations being postponed. It was Wednesday afternoon and even the last of the Swedes should have realized after his speech that the situation in the kingdom is very serious.
Dramatically changed image
Much has been written and discussed about the Swedish special path in the fight against the corona pandemic, about trying to get out of the crisis with more information and recommendations than with strict restrictions. After the number of deaths in the first wave of the pandemic had risen rapidly due to outbreaks in the elderly and nursing homes, supporters of the Swedish route said they were confirmed in the summer: the number of infections remained low during For a long time, only a few Swedes died from or from the virus.
But in recent weeks the landscape has changed dramatically, the number of infections has increased rapidly. Löfven said that the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units had doubled in the last week. On Thursday, the health authority reported that there had been 4,658 new infections and 40 more deaths, a total of 171,365 infections and 6122 deaths in the country with its ten million inhabitants. The 14-day incidence is 481 per 100,000 population. It was recently announced that the positive rate of corona tests in the Stockholm region had reached 20 percent; in Germany, a peak of almost eight percent had recently been achieved.
But it is not only that the situation in the country worsens again. The authorities are also increasingly deviating from their special route, even if it is not formulated that way. But there are increasingly strict recommendations and restrictions. First, stricter recommendations were announced for individual regions: people should avoid physical contact with people outside their home, do not organize or participate in parties, and it is advisable not to use public transport. More regions were added, four more on Thursday, so the recommendations apply to a large portion of Swedes.
Some people ignored the risk
Löfven didn’t just talk about dark times. He said the government believes more action is needed to contain the spread of the virus. Starting on November 20, there will be a daily ban on the sale of alcohol across the country starting at 10 pm That’s a turning point for the inn. The Swedish media cite innkeepers who are at least surprised by it, or even speak of a “disaster” or a “death blow” to their industry.
Löfven said some people ignored the risk. More and more people had started to relax in the fall, thinking that a day at the mall meant nothing or that a birthday party didn’t matter. “But sadly, it makes a difference.” Every decision you make in your daily life makes a difference. “Everyone’s behavior, everyone’s negligence, is important.”
