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The 35 deaths reported on Thursday follow the shockingly high figure from Wednesday when the number of COVID-19 deaths in Sweden rose by 174 cases.
– The death toll continues to rise, more than we expected a few days ago. We know from other countries that the death toll is a few weeks after the confirmed case and hospitalization figures, so we will likely continue to see a rising number of deaths, state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said Thursday.
It is not certain that the death toll follows exactly the same pattern as infection rates, says Anders Tegnell. The number of people who die from the disease is determined not only by the number, but also by the people who become infected.
In Sweden, 90 percent of all the people who have died are 70 years or older.
Compared to others European countries, Sweden is one of the ten countries with the lowest number of deaths per capita in the last two weeks, according to figures from the EU infection control authority ECDC. However, many other countries in Europe have already passed the culmination of the autumn wave of infection and are now seeing a decrease in the spread, which is not the case in Sweden.
Finland, Denmark and Norway are among the countries that have had the fewest deaths in recent times. Throughout the year, Sweden has stood out from neighboring countries, which have been hit hardest by the ongoing pandemic.
Anders Tegnell believes that it is the neighboring countries, especially Finland and Norway, which are the exception in Europe as a whole. Why they did so much better, there is still no answer, he says.
– This is a very difficult topic that we will probably discuss for several years. Several different factors have been pointed out, such as population density, population structure, how the infection entered countries, etc. Today, I cannot point out which of these factors have been determining factors, he says.
