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Swedish authorities have imposed restrictions in recent weeks in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but even so the number of cases has continued to rise. For a long time, the Swedes thought they could prevent a second wave of the pandemic. Currently, the health system is operating at full capacity, a sign that the measures taken are not having the desired effect.
“The public health authority has prepared three scenarios this summer. We have prepared ourselves for the worst. But it has proven to be twice as bad as the initial fear,” Lars Falk, head of the therapy department, told AFP. intensive care at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, writes Agerpres.
Furthermore, chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell acknowledged that experts did not take into account that the second wave will be more aggressive.
“Most of the health experts didn’t see the next wave. They were talking about localized outbreaks.”, admitted in an interview for a Swedish publication.
Currently, doctors say there is extreme pressure on the healthcare system. Live resuscitation services, requests for more qualified medical personnel in Stockholm, mortality so far twice that of its northern neighbors: this autumn, the Swedish strategy, less strict in the face of the epidemic, repeats its weak spring balance.
“Unfortunately, the level of contamination is not decreasing, and this is very worrying“Health Director for the Stockholm Region, Bjorn Eriksson, told AFP.”
After asking for reinforcements from all qualified medical personnel, especially private clinics, he called for the cancellation of all non-emergency operations in the region on Tuesday.
“Enough. It’s not worth going out for a drink after work, meeting people outside the house, going shopping for Christmas or drinking coffee – the consequences are dire,” he said last week.
Earlier in the week, COVID-19-related hospitalizations in Sweden peaked on April 20, with nearly 2,400 patients treated, despite the percentage of patients in intensive care being twice as low as in the spring. , about 10%. .
The death toll reached 7,802 on Wednesday, of which more than 1,800 since the beginning of November, and the number of new cases is approaching a new record, with an average of more than 6,000 per day, according to official data.
Without a mask, without closing bars, restaurants and shops and without a mandatory quarantine, Sweden has stood out for its strategy based mainly on “recommendations” and very few coercive measures.
Strict recommendations after Covid cases have multiplied
However, given the significant increase in cases, some very strict recommendations were issued, especially not to visit people outside the home, but their non-compliance is not sanctioned.
Despite widespread opinion, Sweden has never addressed herd immunity.
But its health officials have long said that the spring’s high level of contamination will undoubtedly make it easier for the country to cope with a long-term resurgence of the epidemic.
“I think we will have a relatively low spread this fall,” chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said in August.
For a time, events seemed to prove him right, but the second wave that Sweden thought it could rid itself of finally reached this country, a little later than in other parts of Europe.
The death rate already exceeded 10% in November, according to the Bureau of Statistics, and is expected to continue to worsen.
Despite criticism from an independent commission on Tuesday, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has so far refused to call the strategy a failure.
“Most of the health experts didn’t see the next wave. They were talking about localized outbreaks.”However, he admitted in an interview for the Aftonbladet newspaper.
Sweden could further toughen holiday measures
In Dr Lars Falk’s opinion, “we have tightened the measures, but I think we have to do even more”, especially during the holidays.
The government has pulled out of the drawer an emergency bill that should allow the closure of stores and restaurants in particular. However, its entry into force is not expected until mid-March.
Like the rest of the European Union, Sweden also has high hopes for vaccines, which it hopes to be able to launch by the end of December and proposes them to the entire population by the middle of next year.
Editing: Alexandra Andronie
