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From: Beri Zangana
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Anders Tegnell said yesterday that, among other things, “immigrants have been highly motivated” about the high death rates in Sweden.
The statement has sparked reactions, now the state epidemiologist says it was regrettable.
– It is not the case that I meant to drive the spread of the infection, says Anders Tegnell.
Anders Tegnell was asked on Thursday’s broadcast of SVT’s “Aktuellt” about the differences between the death toll in Sweden and other countries in the Nordic region. Norway and Finland are unusual from a European perspective in terms of how the coronavirus has affected countries, Tegnell said.
– There are a number of differences that are very obvious, these are countries that are relatively sparsely populated and have small populations. Small groups of immigrants that have been very active in many countries. So there are a number of differences between us and these and that makes us much more like the countries of Europe, Anders Tegnell said in the broadcast.
Photo: SVT
Anders Tegnell on the SVT program agenda Thursday night.
“Unfortunate choice of words”
The statement has sparked reactions, including from researchers.
“The fact that people of foreign origin in our society have been more affected by covid-19 should not be interpreted in the sense that we would have had a significantly less infection without these people (..)”, Tove Fall, professor of molecular epidemiology, said on Twitter.
Also the economist Jonas Vlachos, active at the University of Stockholm, I have answered.
“The best study so far in the field also shows that the response to spring restrictions did not differ between immigrant-dense areas and other areas,” he wrote on Twitter.
For Aftonbladet, Tegnell explains that the statement did not land properly.
– It was an unfortunate choice of words, it was not the case that I meant to drive the spread of the infection. Of course, I have always been clear that this is not the case. On the other hand, it is a group that has been greatly affected by the infection, says Anders Tegnell.
Photo: LOTTE FERNVALL
Anders Tegnell.
Most vulnerable
The state epidemiologist explains that the Nordic countries cannot be compared with each other in terms of infected and dead in covid-19 because they have different conditions in terms of population, population density, demographics and travel habits.
– Of course, it will affect the number of infected people you get. Therefore, one of the factors that many have found should be the big difference between Norway, Sweden and Finland, says Anders Tegnell.
In Sweden, there are also more people with origins in other countries than in our neighboring countries. It emphasizes that foreign-born people have been more affected by the coronavirus than other parts of the Swedish population.
– Of course, it is very unfortunate in many ways, but it was unfortunate of me to use that word, because it was not at all what I meant, says Anders Tegnell.
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