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President Donald Trump said Sweden is “paying a lot” for not enforcing a coronavirus blockade, as the country confirmed an almost record number of new infections today.
Schools, restaurants and beauty salons in Sweden have remained open amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 3.2 million people worldwide.
The World Health Organization yesterday praised the Scandinavian country as a “model” in the fight against the virus, claiming that there are “lessons to be learned” from the nation’s response.
Dr Mike Ryan, WHO emergency expert, said: “I think there is a perception that Sweden has not put in place control measures and has only allowed the disease to spread, nothing could be further from reality.”
He added that Sweden had demonstrated the “new normal”, explaining: “It has been based on the will of its citizens to implement distancing and self-regulation.”
But Trump said Sweden has paid the price for his laid-back response, writing in a tweet this afternoon: “ Despite reports saying otherwise, Sweden is paying a lot for its decision not to shut the door.
President Donald Trump (pictured) said Sweden is “paying a lot” for not enforcing a coronavirus blockade as deaths in the Scandinavian nation continue to rise
But Trump has questioned the country’s response, writing in a tweet this afternoon: “Despite reports to the contrary, Sweden is paying heavily for its decision not to close.”
Until today, 2462 people have died there, a much higher number than the neighboring countries of Norway (207), Finland (206) or Denmark (443).
“The United States made the right choice!”
Following Trump’s comments, Sweden announced its second-highest jump in cases with 790 new infections, at a time when much of Europe is experiencing a slowdown in numbers.
The increase from 20,302 cases to 21,092 occurred along with 124 more deaths, for a total of 2,462 to 2,586.
Currently, the United States has confirmed 1,053,036 Covid-19 cases, and the death toll yesterday surpassed Trump’s ‘best case’ scenario of 60,000.
But Sweden has a higher daily death rate per million people, today it registers 7.43 deaths per million against 6.12 in the United States.
Sweden has a high daily mortality rate per million people, shown in this graph, today registering 7.43 deaths per million against 6.12 in the USA. USA
The daily number of cases per million, shown in this graph, is much higher in the United States than in Sweden and the United Kingdom.
People sit outside in a park in Stockholm last weekend, enjoying the freedom to go out which has been very restricted in most of Europe.
People gather for a picnic in a park in Stockholm, Sweden, amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 26
A nurse wearing protective clothing and a face mask observes blood in an oxygenation machine while caring for a patient at a hospital near Stockholm earlier this month.
However, new data also shows that EE. USA It has a significantly higher number of daily infections per million. Today reported 82.36 infections per million against 67.43 in Sweden.
But residents of the Scandinavian nation have recorded a much lower number of deaths from coronavirus overall, with 443 confirmed in Denmark amid 9,158 cases, a difference that is not adequately explained by the size of their populations.
Denmark has already sent children to primary schools and has reopened some businesses, such as beauty salons and driving schools.
Finland, which declared a state of emergency on March 16 and forced a crash on April 1, currently has 4,995 cases of the virus, and Norway reports 7,710.
The 790 new cases reported by Sweden today mark their second worst jump so far, after an increase of 812 was recorded last Friday.
The daily number of cases in Sweden, shown in this graph, was again up to 790 today, the second highest on record, after 812 last Friday.
This graph shows the daily number of deaths, which has been greatly affected by delays in reporting weekend cases. Today’s figure is 124 new deaths.
Although Sweden’s figures have been highly susceptible to the rogue numbers caused by weekend delays, official figures show that 774 new positive tests occurred yesterday.
The nation, despite failing to implement strict closure measures taken by most of Europe, has banned gatherings of more than 50 people, closed high schools and university campuses, and asked at-risk groups to self-isolate.
Swedes have also been banned from visiting nursing homes in one of the few restrictive measures the government has imposed.
However, younger children’s schools, restaurants, and many businesses have remained open to the public.
Sweden’s leading virologist admits mistakes in reacting to coronavirus as the country has the second highest number of daily infections
By Tim Stickings for MailOnline
The virologist who led Sweden’s relaxed response to the coronavirus pandemic has acknowledged mistakes in reacting to the crisis, as the country recorded an almost record number of new infections today.
Anders Tegnell said very little was done to protect people in nursing homes, believed to account for up to half of Sweden’s 2,586 deaths.
Speaking on SVT television, he accepted that he was wrong in predicting that the virus would be contained in Wuhan, but said he did not have a ‘crystal ball’.
However, Tegnell is not backing down on his free-blocking strategy, which Sweden believes is more effective in the long term.
Leading Swedish epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, right, admitted to a series of government mismanagements of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said in January that “there was no need to worry” about the virus, arguing at the time that there was no reason to shut down travel from China.
The chief of public health spoke confidently about Wuhan’s ability to contain the epidemic, saying the new virus did not seem particularly contagious.
A statement from the Tegnell Public Health Agency said on January 16 that the risk of the infection spreading to Sweden was “very low.”
When asked about those predictions Tuesday night, Tegnell said he was “far from being alone in this assessment.”
His initial optimism was based on outbreaks of SARS and MERS, two previous coronaviruses that had not caused a pandemic, he said.
SARS caused around 8,000 cases worldwide, while MERS caused only around 2,500 infections.
Tegnell was also asked about the influx of new cases from Italy, some of them linked to ski trips when the government was not advising against them.
This graph shows the number of deaths per million, which has been higher in Sweden than in Denmark, although Sweden’s numbers tend to fluctuate wildly on weekends.
It was not until March 6 that Sweden advised against nonessential travel to northern Italy, the first major epicenter of the crisis in Europe.
Tegnell said Tuesday that the government based its strategy on information from Italy, which it deemed reliable.
‘The virus was much more unpredictable than we initially thought. After all, events in Italy turned violent, even though Italy had taken drastic steps to start, “Tegnell said.
He added: ‘We have to do an evaluation based on where we are. We cannot try to look into a crystal ball and try to guess how it is going to advance. ‘
In addition to that, Tegnell blamed ‘many different players’ for failing to improve care for the elderly ‘before entering the situation we find ourselves in today.’
Tegnell said the virus appeared to have spread more rapidly in Swedish care homes than in other countries, but said it was not clear why.
Swedes have been banned from visiting nursing homes in one of the few restrictive measures the government has imposed.
