Sweden, a flexible strategy with the highest rate of new cases in Europe

STOCKHOLM.- The Sweden’s flexible strategy, which was widely debated last year, appears to have failed once again, with the country having recorded highest number of new coronavirus infections per capita in Europe over the past week and he has more intensive care patients than at any time during the pandemic.

The Scandinavian country, which ruled out strict blockades early on but gradually increased its restrictions – mostly voluntary – has an average for the last seven days of 625.36 new infections per million population, according to ourworldindata.org, the highest on the continent.

Behind they follow Cyprus with 612.43, Hungary (523.32), Poland (529.51) and Estonia (502.06). Moreover, this figure is much higher than that of neighboring countries; Norway reported 132.28 infections per million population last week; Denmark, 111.21, and Finland, 65.52, one of the lowest figures in Europe.

According to the Swedish Intensive Care Registry, 392 people were treated in units across the country on Monday, higher than the second wave peak of 389 in January, but still lower than the 558 patients of the Boreal Spring of 2020, when the coronavirus swept through retirement homes.

While infections and serious hospitalizations have increased in Sweden, so have deaths, a trend which the National Health Agency says is due to the fact that many of the most vulnerable, especially residents of nursing homes, are now vaccinated. However, there is still a lag between the increase in cases and deaths, so the country could see an increase in the number of deaths in the coming weeks.

As a result of the epidemiological evolution, the government led by the Prime Minister Stefan Löfven postponed the easing of some restrictions to at least May 3But he insisted that tougher measures were not yet needed to control the latest increase.

The Swedish public “has really changed their behavior and everyday life is to a large extent already very restricted”, said Health Minister Lena Hallengren.

The government had planned to relax some rules, including increasing the limit on the number of visitors to amusement parks, concerts and football matches, after the Easter holidays, but the public health agency said it warned not to do so. Non-essential stores remained open in Sweden, albeit with a limited number of customers, and bars and restaurants continued to serve in their establishments, albeit with increasingly strict restrictions on opening hours. and the sale of alcohol.

Restrictions on public gatherings have been steadily tightened, but most of the schools remained open, although the rules vary by region.

Hallengren dijo la semana pasada que el gobierno había adoptado las medidas que creía necesarias y que la estrategia había sido “poner la vida y la salud en primer lugar y protect el sistema de salud” pero que también había tratado de “asegurar otras funciones important the society”.

“Once this is done, the company should be able to continue to operate. The aim was not to affect people’s privacy too much “, the official said.

Surveys show that Swedes have followed recommendations less in recent weeks, prompting the country’s chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, to call for greater discipline. “What is needed is for people to respect the rules that we have,” he said.

The country of 10 million people has suffered 13,660 coronavirus-related deaths, giving you a death rate per million of 1345, a figure much higher than that of its Nordic neighbors, but lower than that of several European countries which have opted for strict closures: that of Italy is 1906, that of Great Britain 1865, that of Spain 1638 and that of France 1521.

A study by the European Union statistical agency Eurostat, which analyzed official data from several countries, showed last month that the increase in excess mortality – a measure of the number of deaths more than a country has seen than normal – was lower in Sweden in 2020 than in most European countries.

Infectious disease experts said the findings should not be taken as proof that the closures are unnecessary, but recognized that they may indicate that Sweden’s overall position in the fight against the pandemic may have some aspects deserving of it. to be studied.

Preliminary data showed that Sweden recorded 7.7% more deaths in 2020 than its average for the previous four years, a figure lower than that of 21 of the 30 countries studied. Spain and Belgium, which have opted for repeated strict closings, recorded excess mortality of 18.1% and 16.2% respectively.

However, Sweden did much worse than its Nordic neighbors, with Denmark recording only 1.5% excess mortality and Finland 1%. Norway had no excess mortality in 2020.

THE NATION