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The Stockholm health official called on Swedish authorities to send nurses and other hospital staff, as the capital struggles to control a second wave of COVID-19 infections that swarmed Stockholm’s intensive care units.
Sweden, which chose not to put in place the containment measures exercised by many other countries, registering a much higher number of deaths per capita compared to its Nordic neighbors, totaling almost 7,300 deaths caused by the virus.
Stockholm and the surrounding regions are among the worst affected areas, with 2,836 deaths. The rate of new infections is increasing again, after a quiet period in the summer and fall, with the intensive care units full.
“We need help,” Stockholm health official Bjorn Eriksson told a news conference. 814 patients received treatment in hospitals and geriatric wards in the capital on Wednesday, up from 748 on Friday. During the spring, the peak of the disease in the country, hospitals received 1,100 patients.
Erikson added that 83 patients were admitted to intensive care units. “This corresponds, more or less, to the total capacity of beds in intensive care that we normally have,” he explained.
Faced with the increase in new cases in recent weeks, the Swedish government has tightened restrictions on public gatherings. Secondary schools transition to distance education for the remainder of the term. On Wednesday, the government affirmed its desire to obtain more power from Parliament, in order to facilitate containment measures that will allow, among other things, to close shopping centers and gyms.
So far, however, the measures have been mostly voluntary, with the media showing images of crowded streets in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Eriksson called for compliance with government measures to help ease pressure on the healthcare system. “It’s coming. It just won’t be worth it, having a few drinks after work and the hustle and bustle of buying gifts for Christmas … the consequences are horrible,” he lamented.
News updated at 10:37 p.m.
