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At the end of last month, the number of deaths from covid-19 in Sweden exceeded 6,000 and continues to rise. This summer, deaths per day were down to single-digit numbers. In November, they have occasionally exceeded 30. The public health authority, the government, the regions and other authorities have tried to curb the spread of the infection with stricter restrictions and more testing.
The seriousness of the situation leaves clear traces in the new DN / Ipsos survey on how Swedes experience the pandemic. Concern about the consequences of the plague is increasing and confidence in the capacity of society is waning.
When DN / Ipsos asks How concerned are you about the burden of healthcare, 82 percent say they are very or fairly concerned. This is the highest rating since the surveys began in March and the largest change since the last survey. Fears are at their highest so far in other areas as well. For example, 44 percent are concerned that authorities are not taking sufficient action, compared to October 31. Another peak is the risk of self-infection, something that worries 34 percent compared to 27 last month.
Nicklas Källebring is an opinion analyst at Ipsos.
– It is quite obvious that the increase in the spread of the infection, in combination with the measures that the authorities have taken, has created a sharp increase in concern, he says.
Concerns about the economic fallout of the pandemic are also mounting, but there is still some way to go to this spring’s levels.
The view of the authorities’ capacity has also changed. The proportion of people with high confidence in the authorities overall plummeted 13 percentage points, from 55 to 42 percent.
The same trend is evident when DN / Ipsos specifically asks about the authority that is in the center, the Public Health Authority. The proportion of those who say they are confident falls from 68 percent to 59 in November. The authority’s most important external face, state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, is also on a downward slope with a 7 percentage point loss of confidence in the past month. Over time, confidence in Tegnell remains remarkably stable.
The infection has once again found its way into nursing homes and the Swedish Health and Care Inspectorate (IVO) arrived on Tuesday with scathing criticism about how covid care has been managed there. DN / Ipsos shows that confidence in the care of the elderly is falling again, after recovering somewhat this summer. Confidence in healthcare is also declining, hitting previous lows in November.
The November poll did not include questions about how voters view the efforts of politicians during the pandemic. However, the DN / Ipso voter barometer, which was released Tuesday, shows no clear corona effects on party voter support.
– The changes are very small. Neither party appears to have won or lost because the crown crisis has deepened again, says Nicklas Källebring at Ipsos.
In the November voter barometer DN / Ipsos also asked how well the government does its job. The government’s rating has increased marginally compared to the previous survey. The proportion that believes that a moderate-led government would do better remained unchanged.
– We may see a new corona effect in voter support in the future, but it will likely be less than in the spring. Then the crisis was new and caused a strong demonstration behind the government, also from the opposition parties. We will probably not get the same support from the Prime Minister this time, says Nicklas Källebring.
