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The Swedish government is accused of trying to write about the history of the crown strategy. Suddenly, a phrase from a government document disappeared.
The infection curve must flatten, said state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell at all press conferences. But how much did it have to go down? Photo: TT / NTB
We have to “level the curve”. The number of coronary diseases should not be so great that the health system collapses. This has been the clear message from the Swedish health authorities and members of the government since the coronavirus reached the country a year ago.
But what did they really mean? Should the spread of the infection be as small as possible? Or did it mean that the health care system was kept up to date?
These words now haunt the Swedish government.
These plans with the flattening infection curve have been a recurring theme in the press conferences of the Public Health Authority. Photo: Swedish Public Health Agency press conference
Wide spread of infection
Why is this important? The Swedish government is experiencing growing criticism for its crown strategy. They are accused of having done too little too late. More than 12,000 Swedes have died in the corona pandemic.
The Corona Commission, which will investigate the handling of the pandemic, issued a devastating report before Christmas. He was referring to the collapse of care for the elderly. The commission stated that a major reason for the spread of coronary heart disease in Swedish nursing homes was the wide spread of the infection in society. So the question comes to the fore: Did you do enough to reduce the infection?
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven says they introduced tough measures all this spring. But the government has now tightened the screw and introduced the toughest measures since the pandemic began. The fear is that there will be a great third wave of infection.
But there are also more things that have changed, several commentators note.
The Swedish government and the head of the Public Health Authority, Johan Carlsson, insist that the Swedish strategy has been correct. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg, TT / NTB
The sentence that disappeared
When Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren and state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell were questioned on the Agenda television program in January, all three were concerned about saying the following: It is not true that we said that they agreed with some spread of infection this spring. The goal has always been to push down as much as possible.
Soon after, freelance journalist Emanuel Karlsten, who has covered the corona pandemic on his blog, revealed that the government had made a change to a major strategy document.
The April 7 document originally stated:
“The general objective of the government’s work is to reduce the rate of spread of infection, that is, to reduce the curve so that not many people get sick at the same time.”
But overnight the sentence had changed, Karlsten discovered. All of a sudden, he just said:
“The overall goal of government work is to reduce the spread of infection in society”
The government has been unable to provide any explanation for the change. A spokeswoman told Expressen that the change had occurred in error when another text was to be updated. The missing text has been added again now.
– Smoking Gun
An explanation has been requested from the Minister of Social Affairs Lena Hallengren. Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch has reacted. He is surprised that a “key phrase in the government’s strategy” has been removed.
Commentator Göran Eriksson on Svenska Dagbladet writes that it is nothing that has disappeared from the government website, but “a smoking gun.” He believes that wording on the spread of the infection can create problems for the government.
There is a difference between “slowing down” and reducing the infection “as much as possible,” Eriksson believes.
– Appears as a retouched narrative. It is said they wanted to keep the spread of the infection as low as possible, but this spring they said they should have an even spread of the infection, says political science professor Tommy Möller from Stockholm University in Aftenposten.
-It is obvious that they emphasize things in another way, continue.
also read
Tegnell does not accept self-criticism. Löfven is still in charge.
It can plague the government
The political scientist says there was little political debate last year about the government’s chosen corona strategy. The opposition had no alternative strategy. Now the temperature is rising and there is more criticism of the government.
– The usual reaction when a crisis breaks out is to support the government. This was the case in Sweden this spring. But now it appears that the pandemic could be a very big burden on the government in the upcoming elections, Möller says.
