Too little, too late?
The Scandinavian country is moving away from its long-held ‘no lockdown’ policy as a growing number of cases in cities such as Stockholm and Uppsala threaten to once again overwhelm its aged care homes.
46% of 2,714 of Sweden’s 5,863 COVID deaths have been among aged care residents according to the latest international research – around 3.3% of the total 82,000-plus resident population. Over 90% of its deaths have been among people aged over 70.
Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, will meet with local health officials this week to discuss which measures to put into place in response to outbreaks after allowing shops, bars, and restaurants to remain open and students to attend school during the first wave of the pandemic.
The measures are expected to give local authorities the power to strongly recommend people to avoid busy public places like shopping centres, museums, gyms, concerts, and sports matches – as well as public transport and contact with the elderly and vulnerable.
But unlike in other countries, there will be no fines or legal consequences for people who don’t follow any new advice.
Will it have the intended impact then of driving down case numbers?
