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During the entire pandemic, 351 people died from covid-19 in Norway. In Sweden, the same number died in less than two weeks in November.
The fact that Norway acted quickly with severe closures this spring may have been a decisive difference, says Frode Forland of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
– It is a sad situation that Sweden has reached, he says.
During the last two weeks of November, an average of 36.7 people with COVID-19 died every day in Sweden, according to figures produced by Expressen. This means that we had more than 360 deaths in ten days, that is, more than our neighboring country Norway has had since the start of the corona pandemic.
In all, more than 7,000 have died since the pandemic broke out in March.
– It is a reflection of the high spread of the infection in Sweden. “I think it is a very high number and it is a sad situation that Sweden has come to,” Frode Forland, an infection control instructor at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, tells Aftonbladet.
Tegnell: Sweden manages second wave better
Last summer, state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told DN that he thought Sweden would fare better in a second wave than Norway due to our high spread of infection this spring.
– I think we will get away more easily if similar scenarios are obtained in Sweden and Norway with a higher number of cases because our approach is less dramatic, he said in the interview.
Instead, it has been the other way around.
Photograph: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / TT
Frode Forland of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Sweden, like other countries that were hit hard in the first wave, is hit hard even now in the second wave.
– The countries that had the greatest spread of infection in the first wave also had it this fall. Countries that quickly stopped the virus have contracted fewer infections, says Frode Forland.
Forland: Infection out of control in Sweden
Norway’s quick and tough action at the beginning of the pandemic, shutting down large sectors of society, was effective in curbing the pandemic, according to Forland.
– In Sweden, the infection had much more time to move in society before measures were gradually implemented, it has been handled in a more gentle way. The infection got out of control in the first phase and is now showing up again, he says.
In Sweden, 18 out of 21 regions report having difficulty keeping up with infection tracking, according to Swedish radio Ekot. Waiting times of up to a week are common. Effective infection tracking has been instrumental in Norway in quelling local outbreaks in their infancy, according to Forland.
– We have had 300 local cluster outbreaks since last summer that we have managed with effective testing, infection tracking and quarantine in municipalities, and the use of local regulations, he says.
Photo: LOTTE FERNVALL
Anders Tegnell
Photo: Stefan Hörberg / Rithuset AB / TT
Coronaviruset illustration.
“Do a little more like Norway now”
But Forland thinks Sweden seems to have learned from the first wave.
– Yes, now you do a little more Norway with social distance and Stefan Löfven has come in and has taken on more responsibility. In Norway, it was an important signal that the government came in in March and took responsibility and showed that this was not just a public health crisis, it affected the whole of society.
He thinks that Sweden should strengthen its border controls and limit travel from countries with a high spread of the infection. In Norway, arrivals at airports are tested and travelers from high-risk countries are quarantined for ten days.
– I think you should travel less and make sure to prevent infected people from other countries from entering. I think it is important.
Photo: Jessica Gow / TT
Johan Carlson, CEO of the Swedish Public Health Agency.
“Too early to draw conclusions”
During a press conference on Thursday, Johan Carlson, Director General of the Swedish Public Health Agency, was asked if he was self-critical of the agency’s handling of the pandemic.
– It is too early to do such an analysis. In general, I think it is too early to jump in and draw a conclusion from an effect to a measure, said Johan Carlson, Director General of the Swedish Public Health Agency during a press conference on Thursday.
Frode Forland does not want to revise the Swedish strategy. But he thinks the large country differences in death rates are notable.
– I am surprised by the great difference there has been between such similar countries where ten times more deaths have been found in Sweden than in Norway, it is surprising. That statistic speaks for itself. Something has been more difficult for Sweden.
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