Sweden ninth on the list of most affected countries

Of: Joachim kerpner

Published: December 19, 2020 at 7:21 p.m.

Sweden has now entered the list of the ten countries most affected in the world by the covid-19 infection.

Infection doctor Björn Olsen hopes it will get even worse soon:

– I think we will go further up the list, he says.

On Thursday, Sweden reached an all-time high when it comes to COVID-19 infection in one day, with 9,659 cases, according to the Swedish Public Health Agency. Thus, Sweden finished in third place in the world that day, with only Lithuania and Liechtenstein ahead of us.

We had 956 new cases per million inhabitants, Liechtenstein had 1,075 cases and the worst affected Lithuania ended with 1,169 cases, according to Our World in Data.

But the daily quotes are unstable. They can differ greatly, in part due to lack of information on the weekends.

Photo: Our world in data

Sweden glows dark red on the map showing the severity of the spread of the infection in the world at the moment.

Top ten in the world

A better measure is actually the seven-day average, the average of the last seven days. There, Sweden has risen steadily up the world list recently. On December 6 we finished in 14th place in the world, ten days later we were in twelfth place and last Friday, where the numbers reflect the situation of Thursday, we had entered the list of the top ten.

Sweden now ranks ninth in the world, with an average of 665 infected per million inhabitants for seven days. Only Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Serbia, Croatia, Georgia, San Marino, Luxembourg and Slovenia are worse off.

In the top ten list is only one overseas country, the United States, which came in just after Sweden in 10th place.

Denmark is going up

Below us, Denmark has risen even faster on the list. Denmark finished 38th in the world on December 6, climbed to 14th on December 16, and yesterday our southern neighbor ranked 13th, with 610 infected per million.

Both Sweden and Denmark have reacted to the increasing spread of the infection. On Wednesday, Denmark closed all bars and restaurants. As of Thursday, all shopping centers were forced to close again and as of Monday, private merchants must lock the door.

Sweden announced tighter restrictions last Friday, but not as harsh as in Denmark. Among other things, the maximum number of people at the same table in a restaurant will be four people, a maximum number for customers will be introduced in stores and shopping centers, and mouth guards are recommended on public transport from January 7.

Teacher: I should close

Björn Olsen, chief physician and professor of infectious diseases at Uppsala University, says:

– My spontaneous reaction is that we should take much tougher measures when we have such a strong spread of the infection. We should follow the example of Denmark, to try to close.

– Four at the table, I think it will be a half measure for the poor restaurateurs who are open. We also introduced mouth guards to public transportation starting January 7. I don’t understand the logic, the situation may be seven trips worse then. It should be applied immediately.

Is it obvious that Denmark will do better in the coming weeks?

– I think so, the Danes are also used to obeying. It is Mette Fredriksen who decides. She has her infection control experts just like the infection control experts, not as substitutes for the Prime Minister. All politics in Sweden hid behind the Public Health Agency for a long time, it’s only now that politicians have started making decisions themselves, when it starts to look really, really bad.

Will Sweden rise further on the global list of spreading infections?

– If nothing really dramatic happens, we will go higher, says Olsen.

When it comes to deaths Sweden and Denmark are not so bad. Sweden ranked 29th in the world yesterday, with a seven-day average of 6.8 deaths per million inhabitants. Denmark finished in 59th place, with 2.0 deaths per million.

– Usually it is for the more affluent countries where the death toll may not have to be so high during this wave. They will be high enough, but we have much better treatment strategies. We have found drugs that work well, increase the chances of survival, says Björn Olsen.

Footnote: the number of infections is higher in all countries. The numbers only apply to people who tested positive. The underreporting of infected people is different in different countries and depends on how many are analyzed.

Published: December 19, 2020 at 7:21 p.m.