– Tegnell’s theory does not agree

Sweden is the country in the Nordic region with the most deaths per million inhabitants. They have been since the pandemic took hold this spring.

Sweden has 706 crown-related deaths per million inhabitants. The average for Norway, Denmark and Finland is 101 krone-related deaths per million. It shows figures from the statistical authorities of the different countries, which Expressen has compiled.

Swedish state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has explained this with two main factors: population density and the proportion of immigrants in the population.

But figures from Norrland, in northern Sweden, show that that theory is not true, Expressen writes. Norrland has a lower population density and proportion of immigrants than Norway, but much higher death rates.

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Clear differences

Tegnell believes that the differences between Sweden and the rest of the Nordic region are clear.

– There are a number of differences that are very obvious. These are countries that are relatively sparsely populated and have small populations. Small groups of immigrants have been very active in many countries. There are a number of differences between them and us, which make us more like European countries, Tegnell told SVT.

Tegnell later clarified that he did not believe that immigrant groups were the driving force behind the infection.

– It is not the case that I meant to drive the spread of the infection. I have always been clear that this is not the case. On the other hand, there is a group that is very affected by the infection, Tegnell emphasized to Aftonbladet.

Both Norwegian and Swedish surveys have shown that immigrants are overrepresented in infection statistics.

Few people

Despite Sweden being more densely populated than Norway, the country is still among the most sparsely populated countries in Europe. Only Norway, Finland, Iceland and Russia have fewer inhabitants per square kilometer.

– Towards the immigrant fading of Tegnell

Denmark, with its 135.5 inhabitants per square kilometer, ranks just above the EU average in terms of population density.

Sweden has roughly twice the proportion of foreign-born than the average for Norway, Finland and Denmark, according to Expressen. This applies whether you count everyone born abroad or only those born outside the Nordic countries, the EU / EEA and the UK.

It is the infection among these foreign-born that Tegnell uses to explain the differences in mortality and infection.

Norrland destroys the theory

In the northern Swedish counties of Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland, Västernorrland and Gävleborg, there are 5.4 immigrants per square kilometer.

That’s a third more than in Norway and Finland, and a third more than in Denmark.

However, the region has 4.5 times more deaths per crown per million inhabitants than the average for Norway, Denmark and Finland, according to Expressen.

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Between November 2 and 29, 81 corona-infected people died in Norrland. This corresponds to 63 deaths per million inhabitants.

In the same period, Norway had 9 deaths per million inhabitants, Denmark 18 and Finland 6.

The explanation

Jörn Klein is Professor of Infection Control at the University of Southeast Norway.

He writes in an email to Dagbladet that there may be a number of reasons that Swedes have higher death rates.

He also writes that pre-pandemic studies show that a higher proportion of the dead are under the age of 60 in Sweden than in other countries.

– The explanations can be many, but the risk of young people contracting COVID-19 in Sweden is probably much higher because bars, restaurants and gyms have been allowed to stay open, writes Klein.