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The fact that Sweden has had few hospital admissions and few deaths in recent months shows that it was not the Swedish strategy that caused Sweden’s many deaths from covid-19. This is what state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell says on French television.
The “Swedish strategy” continues to interest the media around the world: the fact that we never close society in the same way as in many other countries, while keeping schools open and not recommending people to wear mouth guards .
In an interview with France 24 news channel Anders Tegnell was recently asked if it is not the Swedish strategy behind the fact that just over 5,800 people with covid-19 have died so far in Sweden, significantly more than in our Nordic neighbors that took more action. tough against the spread of the virus.
“With the same strategy that we have had all the time, for the last three or three months we have had almost no new cases in elderly care. The deaths have also been very few for a long time, so there is definitely no close connection between the strategy and the number of deaths. I’m not saying there is no connection, but there is no clear connection, “says Tegnell.
In contrast, Sweden, unlike our Nordic neighbors, had a much more difficult start in spreading the infection. More infections came early, Tegnell emphasizes.
“Sweden had a very strong epidemic very early on, much stronger than our neighboring countries. It was a very difficult start and made our pandemic more reminiscent of the UK and France, and it cannot be compared to that of Norway and Finland. “
Also, he says, our nursing homes obviously had certain weaknesses.
“The high death rate (in Sweden) is strongly linked to our nursing homes that had weaknesses. Not all nursing homes, but some places, which made it possible for the disease to take hold and spread. And we know from all countries that if you contract the infection in these places, you get a high mortality rate, because those who live there have a higher risk of dying from this disease. “
But something must Well, I’ve still had a bad time, asks the French journalist.
“Of course, when 5,800 people have died. It was definitely not something we expected, planned or expected. So something definitely went wrong, but that doesn’t mean the strategy itself was wrong.”
When asked why the Swedish Public Health Agency does not recommend mouth protection, Anders Tegnell responds:
“Now that we have a relatively small spread of the infection, which is also decreasing a bit, we see no reason to introduce more measures. Especially not the measures where the quality of the evidence is very poor. In every (scientific) article you read, everyone agrees that the evidence that there is an effect is very weak, and that if there is an effect, it is probably not that good. “
However, understand that others choose a different path:
“But I can understand that in some countries, where the spread of the infection is increasing, measures must be taken that are not the best.” We can stick to the best measures so far, and they are social distancing, staying home if you’re sick and working from home. “