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Sweden continues to divide the scientific community while insisting that it is approaching herd immunity and that its strategy (a term that is denied) against crowning is successful.
Reacting to criticism of the precautionary measures against the pandemic, the foreign minister said yesterday that the Scandinavian country had taken strict measures, but did so without imposing prohibitions.
Speaking to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, Anne Linde said that the perception that life in Sweden continued with its daily routine was simply wrong. “The Swedish government has taken very strict measures against Covid-19. The government took these measures and asked citizens to comply with them, without imposing any restrictions,” he stressed. “For example, we advise everyone to stay home during Easter. 96% of people followed this advice. Therefore, the government is acting with suggestions and not with prohibitions,” added the Swedish chancellor.
The country of 10.3 million people has 18,700 cases and 2,270 deaths (data as of 4/27), a significantly higher death rate than in the other two Scandinavian countries. However, for days, the authorities have insisted that the country be the first to achieve immunity – controversial – from the herd.
Known as the Swedish “brain” behind the anticoronary strategy, epidemiologist Anders Tegnell spoke to USA Today today about Sweden’s management.
“We are conducting two main surveys. We may have these results this week or a little later in May. We know from models and some data that we already have, this information is a little uncertain, that we probably had a transmission spike in Stockholm a few years ago. a few weeks, which means we are probably reaching the peak of infections. We believe that up to 25% of people in Stockholm have been exposed to the coronavirus and are probably immune. A recent study from one of our hospitals in Stockholm found that 27 % of the staff there is immune. We could achieve herd immunity in Stockholm in a few weeks, “he said.
Tegnell is the “architect” of Sweden’s pandemic strategy
What is the Swedish COVID-19 strategy?
Tegnell says: “We are trying to keep the rate of transmission at a level that the Stockholm health system can handle.” So far this is working. The health system is strengthened. They work very hard. However, they have provided medical care to everyone, including those without COVID-19. That is our objective. We do not count the herd immunity to this. With various measures, we simply try to keep the transmission rate as low as possible. The number has been stable for the past two to three weeks. We believe that herd immunity will certainly help us in the long term, and we are discussing this, but it is not that we are actively trying to do so. If we wanted to achieve immunity from the flock, we would do nothing and leave the coronation uncontrollable in society. We have taken reasonable steps without really harming medical care or schools. This is a viable strategy, something we can continue to do for months. The virus is not something that will go away. Any country that you think can avoid it (closing borders, closing deals, etc.) will probably be wrong. We need to learn to live with this disease. “
Did Sweden’s voluntary measures cause more deaths faster than a mandatory blockade?
“It just caught our eye then. What the crisis has shown is that we need to think seriously about nursing homes, because they were so open to transmission (over a third of COVID-19 deaths in Sweden have been reported in nursing homes) and we had a difficult time with that, “he said. Tegnell says.
“We have many reasons to believe that we are doing the right thing. It is true that our death toll is higher than in Denmark and Norway, but we have gained a lot. If we compare it with other European countries that have a strict blockade, we are doing it just as good and in many cases better. Every country wonders if it is doing the right thing. What is happening now is that many countries are starting to follow the Swedish path. Schools are opening up, trying to find a way out. We need to implement measures that we can continue to apply for the long term, not just for a few months or a few weeks, “he said.
Tegnell insisted in another interview that collective immunity is not a Swedish strategy. “The herd’s immunity is not political, it is a situation that can be achieved,” Tegnell said. “We want as few people as possible to become infected, at a slow rate, so that the health system can cope.” He added that the country’s pandemic policies come from science, but also from the way the Swedes have always valued independence. “It is a long tradition that works very well,” he said.
Criticism is growing
On April 24, a team of 22 doctors, virologists and researchers criticized the Swedish Public Health Service in an article published in Dagens Nyheter, the country’s leading business newspaper. “The focus must change radically and quickly,” the team wrote. “As the virus spreads, there is a need to increase social distance. Near schools and restaurants. All who work with the elderly should wear appropriate protective equipment. Quarantine should be imposed on the entire family if a member is ill or is positive. The elected representatives must intervene, there is no other option “
In late March, Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér, an immunology researcher at the Karolinska Institute, told the Guardian that the Swedish approach “led to disaster.” A month later, he did not change his mind. “I see no indication that we are not being driven there in Stockholm,” he told Quartz.
Söderberg-Nauclér said the death toll appears to be higher than Swedish health authorities said, warning that ICUs could collapse in a few weeks. “There is not enough known (about the virus) to follow a policy that allows people to slowly become infected.” “We should have been more reluctant to know so little, but we are following a strategy that has not been tested in the world and there are many unknown data that make it very dangerous,” he said.
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