Swedes lose confidence in Covid-19 ‘Herd immunity’ strategy with Crawling Virus

Photographer: Mikael Sjoberg / Bloomberg

Sweden’s confidence in the national strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic has collapsed, with concerns about the capacity of the healthcare system now almost universal.

A A DN / Ipsos poll released Thursday showed 82% of Swedes are either “somewhat” or “very worried” about whether their healthcare system can meet the challenge it faces. Confidence in the authorities’ ability to fight the virus fell to 42% of those polled from 55% in October. Meanwhile, 44% of Swedes fear authorities are not doing enough to tackle the virus, up from 31% last month.

“It is quite evident that the increase in the rate of infection, combined with the measures that authorities have taken, has led to a sharp increase in concern,” Nicklas Kallebring, analyst at Ipsos, told DN.

Sweden’s decision to avoid a lockdown was controversial from the start, as it coincided with a significantly higher death rate than among the country’s northern neighbors. After a relatively calm summer, daily cases have started to increase and hospitals are filling up. As of Wednesday, more than 200 people were in intensive care.

The national statistics agency said earlier this week that the impact of the Covid crisis will reduce life expectancy in Sweden, after more than a century of almost uninterrupted growth.

In a recent OECD study, Sweden has consistently ranked among the hardest-hit countries in Europe, based on relative rates of death and Covid infection. It was also the slowest to contain the transmission.

“In a third wave, the healthcare system will be even more strained than it has been so far,” said Thomas Linden, head of department at the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare on Tuesday. .