[ad_1]
Published:
Updated:
Mortality rates are falling in Europe.
But Sweden’s state epidemiologist does not believe the dramatic decline will continue.
– There is probably a risk that it will start again after Christmas and New Years, says Anders Tegnell to Dagens Nyheter.
– I think it will be a harsh winter in Europe.
State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell tells Dagens Nyheter after the WHO in a new report shows that the number of deaths is declining in Europe.
Over a seven-day period to December 6, the number of covid deaths in Europe decreased by three percent. But even though the death toll is currently decreasing, the number of infected people continues to rise.
And according to Tegnell, there are many signs that both the spread of the infection and the death toll will rise at a new rate when countries begin to reopen in 2021.
– I don’t think they can keep their communities closed that long this time. You will probably have to reopen it to avoid many negative effects and then it can be difficult to contain the infection, Tegnell tells DN.
Photo: Lotte Fernvall
Anders Tegnell believes it will be a harsh winter for Europe.
Big difference
It highlights that there are great differences between different countries. The Czech Republic has seen a sharp increase recently and in Turkey the death toll has broken records every day for the past week.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for stricter restrictions on Wednesday after the country reported its highest death toll in a day, 590 people, during the entire pandemic.
The country closed in late October after wild numbers.
– I am sad, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart, Merkel said in a speech on Wednesday in which she described the situation as “very alarming”, with the increasing number of people dying as more and more need intensive care. .
Dramatic decline in the West
However, there is hope in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, for example. The number of deaths is drastically decreasing right now. At the same time, France has failed to bring infection rates down as expected, and the reliefs it hoped to introduce in mid-December after previous closures appear to have to wait.
– We don’t know if the dramatic decline is real or if there is an element of not testing as much as previously done. But it is clear that the decline has been quite dramatic, especially in Western Europe of late, Tegnell tells DN.
Photo: Michel Euler / TT
France has failed to reduce infection rates. Paris painting.
Photo: Joerg Carstensen / TT
A man in Berlin was tested for the coronavirus.
Published:
