The controversial position of Sweden to refuse the COVID-19 lockdown is now taking its heavy toll. According to reports, deaths in Sweden are now piling up at 17 times more than its neighbors. According to Johns Hopkins University, the latest mortality count in the country is much higher than in Finland, Denmark, or Norway. These countries implemented lockdown measures.
To compare, Finland reported 75 deaths, Denmark 32, and Norway 150. As the pandemic raged, Norway and Denmark quickly acted to close their borders and schools, and Finland isolated its urban center and closed the majority of its schools. In contrast, Agence Frances-Press reports that Sweden only called for its citizens to be accountable for observing social distancing; it did not order a lockdown.
According to the University of Gothenburg epidemiology professor Bo Lundback, the government and the authorities did not think that the pandemic will ever reach Sweden.
Karolinska Institute professor Cecilia Soderberg-Naucler was one of the 2,300 academicians who signed the open letter last month addressed to the government asking it to reconsider its strategy. She said that control over the health situation must be established. She added that nobody ever tried the route that the government took, so it is a question of why it is first tested in the country and why there is no informed consent.
Meanwhile, the disease is taking its toll on Sweden's elderly population. There have been numerous reports by the national media regarding the hundreds of cases that were confirmed in Stockholm's nursing homes, the region most affected, as well as in homes all across Sweden. There have been reports that one-third of all mortalities were among the elderly living in homes for the aged.
Anders Tegnell, a state epidemiologist, confirmed that the situation in nursing homes is worrying. Critics have questioned his "light-touch" strategy; it essentially prescribes "asking" citizens instead of ordering them to stay indoors, work in their homes, and avoid unnecessary travel.
Prime minister of Sweden Stefan Löfven has since announced government efforts to increase protection, ordering Sweden's health inspectorate to conduct an investigation.
Meanwhile, virologist Lena Einhorn is a leading critic of the government's policy on the coronavirus. Einhorn said that Sweden's health agency and the government still resists admitting the obvious. She added that the government must admit its huge failure, especially since they always said their main objective is to protect the elderly. They do not acknowledge the significance of pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission.
Further, the health agency does not advise care nurses and workers to wear masks or use protective equipment if they do not have a resident suspected of infection. An anonymous care home worker is worried that they are not made to use masks or hand sanitizer, considering they are working with the elderly, society's most vulnerable group.
Einhorn and 21 other researchers want the government to take control of the country's coronavirus strategy and take it away from the health agency. She adds that the higher number of elderly cases in nursing homes in the country compared to Finland and Norway is due to its decision to keep kindergartens, school bars, and restaurants open.
As of this writing, the country has experienced 17,567 confirmed cases, with 2,152 deaths and 550 recoveries. According to Johns Hopkins University, the COVID-19 virus is spreading to more than two million people all over the world.
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