Photographer: Mikael Sjબરberg / Bloomberg
Photographer: Mikael Sjબરberg / Bloomberg
Concerns about capacity in the health-care system are now almost universal as Swedish confidence in the nation’s strategy to combat the coronavirus epidemic has waned.
a Published on Thursday by D.N. Polls by Ipsos show that Swed૨% Swedes are either “somewhat” or “very concerned” about whether their healthcare system could meet the challenge it faces.
Confidence in the authorities’ ability to fight the virus fell from 42% in October to 42% in October. Sweden, meanwhile, 44% of Swedes fear that authorities are not doing enough to fight the virus, compared to 1% last month.
Sweden’s decision to avoid a lockdown has been controversial, as it has a significantly higher mortality rate than the country’s Nordic neighbors. After a relatively quiet summer, daily cases have begun to increase and hospitals are overflowing.
As of Thursday, only 70% of the beds in Sweden’s intensive care unit had been seized, with 220 patients suffering from Covid-19. There are a total of 2,648 ICU beds in the country, with the opportunity to add capacity if needed, health officials say.
“It is clear that the rising rate of infection, along with the steps taken by the authorities, has led to a sharp increase in anxiety,” Ipsos analyst Nicklas Callebring told DN.
In a press briefing with Prime Minister Stefan Lફfven on Thursday, John Carlson, director general of Sweden’s public health agency, presents slides that suggest the daily case rate could rise to 8,000 in December. Sweden has seen an average of 700 new cases a day in the past week. Carlson said he expects the spread to peak next month.
The National Statistics Agency said earlier this week that the effects of the Kovid crisis would eat away at life expectancy in Sweden after nearly a century of uninterrupted growth.
In a recent OECD study, Sweden consistently ranks among the most severely affected countries in Europe, as measured by the relative covid mortality and infection rate. It was also slow to have a transmission.
“In the third wave, the health care system will come under more stress than ever before,” Thomas Linden, head of Sweden’s national health and welfare department, said on Tuesday.
(Updates with the latest details on ICU capacity)
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