The Prime Minister of Sweden says that crisis has changed society forever

Photographer: Johanna Geron / AFP via Getty Images

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The Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Lofven, now says that it is time to build something better amid the worst pandemic in the country in 50 years.

Speaking from his party’s retreat in Bommersvik, the leader of the Social Democrats said, “the coronavirus has shown that the welfare state of which we are so proud has clear shortcomings, not least in the care of the elderly.”

The crisis is “a reminder that the society affected by the pandemic was not a perfect society, so we will not go back to how everything was before,” he said.

During the speech, Lofven continued to call for funding the country’s emergency measures by trimming the welfare state. “We choose welfare and we need to have the best elderly care in the world,” he said, promising to create new jobs and invest in infrastructure.

The remarks come at a test time for Sweden and the Social Democrat Party, whose support has declined over the summer, with last poll for the party which drops to 27.8%, its lowest level since March.

In terms of Covid-19, the Nordic nation has experienced an increased rate of infections in the first half of August after declining rapidly in the previous month. But the country has so far chosen to avoid stricter lockdowns or even the use of face masks.

“The increase we saw at the beginning of August has mainly affected people age 20-40 who do not really follow the recommendations, “said state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell in a interview with Swedish newspaper Expressen.

However, Tegnell is not too worried about the latest uptick, which has seen the country’s “R” number, representing the number of people infecting each new case, rise to more than 1.2 this month from 0.5 in July .

“It is not a direct concern, especially since it has largely not affected health care or care for the elderly,” said the Swedish scientist.