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Samples are sent by plane to laboratories in Germany
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The demand for more testing and infection monitoring is increasing.
At the same time, several regions have reached the ceiling in terms of capacity, depending on the municipalities and regions of Sweden.
– Even though we are increasing week by week, the demand is almost infinite at the moment, says Claes Ruth from the Laboratory of the University of Karolinska.
The number of corona infections in Sweden is increasing dramatically, as is the workload in the country’s intensive care units.
Around 5,000 people have been infected daily in recent days and the number of deaths has also started to rise again.
In Sunday’s Agenda, Fredrik Elgh, professor of virology at Umeå University, described the situation as “very serious” and warned that if the curve continues to rise at the same rate, Sweden will be in the same situation as in April in two weeks.
However, in parallel with the increased spread of the infection, intensive testing and infection tracking is being carried out in all 21 regions of the country.
Photo: Claudio Bresciani / TT
Emma Spak, head of section for health and medical care in municipalities and regions of Sweden.
Photo: Tove Eriksson / TT
Claes Ruth at the Karolinska University Laboratory.
Increased testing in regions
In the first week of November, a total of 228,023 people were tested, an increase of 38,722 people compared to the previous week.
According to Emma Spak, director of the section of health and medical care in the municipalities and regions of Sweden, the number of people analyzed will be even higher in the coming weeks.
– The situation is very pressured and many regions are now faltering because they have gone to the ceiling or are about to do so, says Emma Spak and states that the previous goal was 100,000-150,000 tests a week, but now it is up to 250,000 tests a week.
– This is a very steep increase and therefore the regions are looking at how to increase capacity further.
Tests can be flown abroad
Examples include sending samples abroad for analysis. Among other things, the Västra Götaland region will send samples to laboratories in Denmark and Germany, about which SVT previously wrote.
– Sending samples abroad is an alternative that I know several regions have examined, says Spak.
However, he adds that different regions have different challenges:
– It may be that you need to increase the sampling capacity or need consumables, or that the capacity of the laboratories in the form of personnel is limited.
However, increasing testing capacity is a common goal shared by regions and authorities, according to Emma Spak.
– They all shoot in the same direction. My opinion is that they are working hard in the regions and everyone is working hard to make it work. Nobody waits, but there are concrete and ongoing strategies in the regions on how to fix this.
50,000 tests per week
Testing is also in full swing in the Stockholm region.
– The goal is that in the next week we will reach a capacity of 50,000 tests per week and a rate of 60,000 -70,000 tests per week by the beginning of next year, says Claes Ruth, director of functions of the Laboratory of the University of Karolinska.
However, he adds that the largest number of tests will go primarily to priority groups, at the request of Smittskydd Stockholm.
– We will not reduce the number of tests for the general public, but the planned increase will focus mainly on care, special housing and other vulnerable groups.
“The demand is almost infinite”
As the testing capacity in the region increases, so does the spread of infection, and the pressure on the system remains high.
– Even though we are increasing week by week, the demand is almost endless right now.
According to Claes Ruth, they are therefore looking for different ways to expand the testing capacity, both within the region’s own laboratories and abroad.
– We are analyzing this possibility together with the Swedish Public Health Agency.
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