Linde’s critique after the first case of the British mutation

Sweden has received the first case of the UK’s most contagious mutated corona variant.

It was at the end of last week that a person flew from London to Skavsta and then through an invoice to the house where the person would live. A day later, the person fell ill and, after a few more days, it could be said that it was the British mutation of the virus.

According to several experts Expressen spoke to during the pandemic, you can usually become infected two days before symptoms. This means that the person was contagious when on the plane from the UK, but despite this, no one on the plane has been infected by the region.

No infection tracking from those on the plane

Instead, only people in the infected household have been tested and all have tested negative.

– The Swedish Public Health Agency has previously said that tracking infections on airplanes leads nowhere. So there was no action, says Signar Mäkitalo, an infection control doctor in Sörmland.

Shouldn’t you contact the other travelers?

– So many days have passed, but it is a discussion we had with the Public Health Agency. But that would lead nowhere, says Signar Mäkitalo.

At the same time, he says that it is the Swedish Public Health Agency that has had the last word on the matter.

– If they (the Public Health Agency, editor’s note) had said we would detect the infection, we would have.

Annika Linde: “It’s very strange”

One criticizing the fact that no action was taken when the plane landed is Sweden’s former state epidemiologist Annika Linde.

– I think it should have been done naturally, she says.

– If you take it seriously, this is something that represents a threat. Then, you should quarantine them until you know if they are carriers of the infection or not.

– It’s very strange. You are allowed to say that, continue.

Public Health Agency: “Logistical problems to test on site”

The Public Health Agency has been repeatedly asked why they don’t test people at airports.

When the government introduced the flight ban on December 21, CEO Johan Carlson responded that it was logistics:

– We can’t wait for you to go home and test yourself at home to be on the system you have. Getting tested at Arlanda would mean you get test results from people who don’t really know where they’ve gone, or who should sit there, perhaps for several days, waiting for the answer.

The authority has previously urged anyone staying in the UK after 12 December to stay home for at least a week, avoid contact with other people and get tested as soon as possible, and then take a test of follow-up after five days. The rest of the family should also stay home waiting for the test results.

Linde: “You transmitted a virus”

Annika Linde criticizes the actions of the Swedish Public Health Agency and believes the agency has underestimated the virus.

– I think the Swedish Public Health Agency has underestimated both asymptomatic spread and how long it can spread asymptomatically, he says.

– This is how a virus is transmitted, because there are so many who have symptomatic disease and so many who may not seek and be tested for the least bit, says the former state epidemiologist.

Annika Linde also believes that the action is in line with the policy followed in Sweden.

– This is how you’ve handled it all along. We take care of the ones we discover, and the rest start running, he says.

“If you’re unlucky, it can be a real breakout”

Joakim Dillner is a professor of infection epidemiology. He believes that more action could have been taken at airports in Sweden when the new mutation of the virus began to spread in the UK.

– When we had this situation with a new tribe, and relatively limited. This could have considered emergency measures, such as home quarantine and rapid tests.

According to Joakim Dillner, there is a risk that the person has infected other people on the plane. But it is very different how infectious people are when they are asymptomatic.

– A minority of those who become ill are responsible for the majority of cases of infection. If you are lucky, the person was not so contagious, but you do not know beforehand.

– If you’re unlucky, it can be a real breakout, he says.

The fact that the Public Health Agency and the Sörmland Region did not choose to track the infection of the passengers may be due to the fact that it has been too long since the person was confirmed to be infected with covid-19, says Joakim Dillner.

– That you have chosen to do nothing is enough because you felt that it took too long.