COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden

COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden

Provinces of Sweden particularly affected by SARS-CoV-2 infections
Data
illness	COVID-19
Pathogens	SARS-CoV-2
origin	probably Wuhan , Hubei , People's Republic of China
Beginning	December 1, 2019, reached Sweden since January 31, 2020
The End	not foreseeable
Affected countries	over 200
Confirmed Infected	approx. 24.9 million worldwide, approx. 84,000 in Sweden
Deaths	approx. 839,000 worldwide, approx. 5,800 in Sweden
Last updated: August 30, 2020 (WHO report), Folkhälsomyndigheten

The COVID-19 pandemic occurs in Sweden since January 2020 as part of the global COVID-19 pandemic , which in December 2019 Wuhan , province Hubei , People's Republic of China has started. The disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the Coronaviridae group . The disease belongs to the group of respiratory diseases . On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as a global pandemic . The Swedish government follows compared to the other States a more cautious rate against the virus. Most of the measures taken to contain the epidemic in Sweden are voluntary.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven ( SAP ) said at the end of March: “It's about common sense” and: “We trust each other. We don't need bans. ” Anders Tegnell , chief epidemiologist at the Swedish Public Health Authority ( Swedish Folkhälsomyndigheten , FHM), relies on herd immunity . He stated: “We who work with infectious diseases know that this type of disease will continue to spread until we have achieved immunity in the population” and: “There is no other way to stop it . "

By August 31, 2020, Covid-19 had been found in 84,379 patients in Sweden, 2,569 patients were cared for in an intensive care unit and 5,808 infected people died.

Course in 2020

Information on the new coronavirus and the disease Covid-19 from the Swedish Public Health Authority ( Swedish Folkhälsomyndigheten )

January and February

The first confirmed case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden was reported on January 31, when a woman returning from Wuhan tested positive. On February 26, following the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy and Iran , several clusters emerged in Sweden . Since then, people have tested positive for COVID-19 in every county.

March

The first report of intra-country transmission followed on March 9th in two patients who reported to St Göran Hospital in Stockholm on March 6th . In all previously identified cases, contact tracing had been successful and links were made with travelers or other confirmed cases. The Swedish Health Department responded on March 10 by increasing the risk rating of the spread in the community from moderate to very high, which is the highest level.

The first death was reported on March 11, when a high-risk patient over seventy years old from the Stockholm area died in the intensive care unit of Karolinska University Hospital . He hadn't been abroad.

Also on March 11, the Swedish government passed an ordinance that until further notice banned all gatherings with more than 500 people under threat of punishment. The number allowed was reduced to 50 on March 29th.

As of March 12, the national testing strategy was only applied to the elderly, the seriously ill and medical personnel. The official recommendation starting March 13th is to stay home for non-severe symptoms and not visit county health centers or hospitals. This makes statistics from Sweden less comparable to other countries, as shown by statistics of 187 new cases on March 12 and 127 the day after.

The second death in Sweden was reported on March 14th, an 85-year-old woman in the Västra Götaland region belonging to a risk group. The third death on the same day was an elderly person in the Stockholm area.

As of March 15, there were 1,190 confirmed cases in Sweden, with Stockholm County being the hardest hit. On March 26, the number had risen to 2,840 with 71 dead and 16 considered cured.

The first person reported as infected, a woman from Jönköping , is one of 16 officially cured cases, the others are two people in an old people's home in Flen and thirteen people from Värmland .

April

By mid-April, despite visiting bans, the virus had appeared in a third of the nursing homes in Stockholm, causing a sharp increase in deaths. The Swedish state epidemiologist Tegnell assumed that the new type of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was "unstoppable". He also believed that the curve must be kept flat so as not to overload hospitals. But Tegnell also had the social consequences in mind from the start: The restrictions should not be too strict so that people are willing to accept them for months. He also hopes that in this way enough resilient people will contract Covid-19 to develop immunity against the pathogen .

At the end of April, the health authority assumed that the epidemic in the Stockholm region had already peaked. A quarter of the population of the capital region is said to have been infected with the virus by early May. Due to the lower restrictions, the virus is spreading faster in Sweden than in countries with a lockdown. To prove this, Sweden now wants to test people without symptoms. All residents have already been tested in two old people's homes in the capital. The result: Of the 54 people who showed no symptoms, 20 were positive. "So Sweden could actually be on the right track towards herd immunity."

Johan Carlson, Director General of the Swedish Public Health Authority , said at the end of April: "The most important thing is that you make sure you keep the disease under control so that the health system does not become overloaded, and we have done that so far."

On April 29th, the Swedish health authority published the development of the reproductive number Re, which fell to below 1 in the course of April. The state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell then gave the SVT broadcaster the assessment that the pandemic would slowly subside. Tegnell repeatedly stated that, according to mathematical models, it is possible that signs of herd immunity could be seen in Stockholm as early as mid-May. “This was never officially aimed at. The Swedish way is to keep the number of infections so low that the health system can just about hold out. The Swedes could escape a second virus wave using this method. "

May

At the beginning of May, WHO Executive Director Ryan took a firm stance on the Swedish special path: "Unlike others, Sweden relied very heavily on its relationship with its citizens." In this sense, Sweden implemented public policy through a partnership with the population. "I think that if we want to achieve a new normal, Sweden is a role model on how to return to a society without lockdown." Ryan also said that you have to be aware that the virus is there. Individuals, families and communities should do everything they can every day to contain the transmission of this virus. “That can mean that we have to adapt our way of life.” In Sweden, research is being carried out into how this can be done in real time. "So I think maybe we can learn something from our colleagues in Sweden," said Ryan.

The Tagesspiegel stated in May: "Although Sweden has significantly expanded the test capacities (until the beginning of May) ... overall, comparatively little is being tested here." Around 90% of all patients who were in contact with Covid-19 who died were older than 70 years and more than half had previously lived in a home.

After the publication of the interim results of an ongoing study by the state health authority on May 20, it assumed, based on projections, that over 20% of the population in Stockholm already have antibodies against the Covid-19 pathogen. However, later examinations of blood samples from this period only showed a proportion of 10%. Tegnell sees a positive sign that the number of reproductions has been continuously below 1.0 since mid-April .

June

The public health agency presented interim results of an antibody study on June 2nd. In blood samples from the 20th calendar week (May 11th to May 17th) antibodies were detectable in almost 8% of the under 20 year olds, almost 7% of the 20 to 64 year olds and about 3% of the over 65 year olds strong regional differences.

The high number of COVID-19 deaths compared to neighboring countries led to a decline in confidence in the Swedish COVID-19 strategy among the population. Confidence in the government collapsed from 63 to 45 percent. The public health authority also lost trust, but is still 65 percent after 73 percent. The measures, such as the open schools, are also welcomed by the population. Neighboring countries with a milder infection rate initially spared Swedes from opening borders out of concern about imported cases, the opposition parties announced an investigative commission before the summer. In the meantime, state epidemiologist Tegnell himself admitted that there was a mistake: there was “potential for improvement in what we have done in Sweden”. At the same time, however, he said the overall strategy was correct and he summed up: “If we were to meet the same disease with what we know about it today, I think we would end up somewhere in the middle between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world did. "

On June 4th, the government announced that it would in future test all people with symptoms and provide 5.9 billion Swedish kronor for this.

Under pressure from the opposition, Prime Minister Löfven launched an investigation on June 30 into dealing with the pandemic in Sweden. A commission is to investigate what changes should be made in view of the high number of infections and a high death rate. The commission is headed by the former chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court, Mats Melin, and is expected to submit a first report by November 30, 2020, a second by October 31, 2021 and a final report by February 28, 2022.

July

At the beginning of July, the government commissioned the Swedish Defense Research Institute ( Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut , FOI for short ) to examine the current system of crisis preparedness and to make reform proposals by November. The FOI will specifically deal with the Finnish model for crisis preparedness.

activities

Sweden relied on voluntary discipline and few prohibitions from the start. The general public was asked

• stay at home if you feel the slightest bit sick,
• wash your hands often,
• to refrain from participating in social events with a large number of participants,
• To keep your distance from your fellow human beings.
• People who are 70 years and older have been advised to avoid close contact.
• Travel within Sweden that is not necessary is not recommended. The restriction will be lifted with effect from June 13, 2020.
• Entry from outside the European free trade area was prohibited on March 19, 2020 and was last extended until June 15, 2020.
• Up to grade 9, normal lessons are largely carried out, higher grades are taught via distance learning. This was justified by the fact that there is no scientific evidence on children that they are conspicuous as risk groups or carriers of the virus.
• No visits from April 1, 2020 to nursing homes and old people's homes. People over 70 years of age or in risk groups are recommended to stay at home and reduce all social contacts.
• Gastronomy and trade remained open, as did the national borders. In bars it is only allowed to eat and drink while sitting at the tables, but not standing at the counters.
• Universities have switched to distance learning and home work.
• On March 27, 2020, Sweden tightened its ban on events. Since then it has been valid for events from fifty people.

statistics

Absolute numbers of infected and deceased persons, as well as infection and death rates based on the number of inhabitants, are generally not easily comparable between countries due to different counting methods and different numbers of tests.

Infections

The reason that in June 2020 the number of new infections detected increased per day is that more people had started to be tested, including people who had sought medical help with completely different ailments. As a result, many mild Covid-19 diseases were discovered. The number of newly discovered serious illnesses, i.e. cases in which hospitalization is necessary, has decreased since the 16th calendar week (mid-April) 2020 and was around 26 per day in the 32nd calendar week 2020.

Infections (cumulative) in Sweden
according to data from the Public Health Authority in Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten)

New cases discovered per day in Sweden
according to data from the Public Health Authority in Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten)

Deaths

Listed below are the deaths according to officially reported numbers. The first diagram shows the total of all deaths with a positive diagnosis, accumulated since the beginning of the epidemic. Deaths are assigned to the date Johns Hopkins University received the death report rather than the actual date of death. The second graph shows the daily increase in deaths associated with the actual time of death. The most recent days in the second diagram ("based on data from the Swedish Public Health Authority ") may therefore be incomplete due to delayed reporting and the shape of this curve may be misleading.

Accumulated deaths in Sweden
according to data from the CSSE at Johns Hopkins University

Deaths (per day)
according to data from the Public Health Authority in Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten)

Remarks

1. ↑ The dates are delayed so that the values ​​of the last few days could still change, five further deaths could not be assigned to a date for the time being.

See also

• List of epidemics and pandemics
• List of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic

Web links

Commons : COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Website of the Swedish Public Health Authority ( Swedish Folkhälsomyndigheten ) in Swedish
• Statistics with charts and maps | Folkhälsomyndigheten
• Website of the Swedish Agency for Public Health ( english Public Health Agency of Sweden ) in English
• Information from the Swedish authorities on the spread of the novel coronavirus on the website of the Swedish Embassy in Berlin
• Sweden is taking a different path in the corona crisis. Is the strategy working? An interim balance. In: NZZ , May 8, 2020 (video)
• Re: Corona in Sweden. Does the special route prove itself? In: arte.tv , May 4, 2020 ( YouTube )
• Holger Dambeck: An interim balance in numbers: How well is Sweden getting through the crisis on its special path? In: Spiegel.de, June 1, 2020.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} WHO publication on the COVID-19 pandemic. Accessed August 30, 2020 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Number of newly discovered cases per day (Antal per dag region, column B - Totalt antal fall) , Folkhälsomyndigheten, Stockholm, as of August 31, 2020, Excel table. The data are available on the Folkhälsomyndigheten - Bekräftade fall i Sverige page .
3. ^ ^{A b} Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, dashboard. Accessed August 31, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Covid-19: What is Covid-19? In: lungenärzte-im-netz.de. Retrieved April 14, 2020 . 
5. ↑ "Deeply concerned": WHO speaks of corona pandemic. In: tagesschau.de. March 11, 2020, accessed April 14, 2020 . 
6. ^ Deutsche Welle: Despite Corona: Sweden's ski lifts continue to run. In: dw.com. March 25, 2020, accessed March 29, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Dietmar Pieper: Sweden is pursuing a special route in the fight against corona - politics. In: Der Spiegel. March 28, 2020, accessed March 29, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Gothenburg: Corona in Sweden: “We trust each other. We don't need bans ” . In: The world . March 30, 2020 ( welt.de [accessed April 9, 2020]).
9. ↑ Flockimmunitet - en oundviklig konsekvens. March 26, 2020, accessed March 29, 2020 (Swedish). 
10. ↑ ^{a b} Kai Stoppel: Was Sweden right in the end? Retrieved April 16, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Information from the Swedish authorities on the spread of the novel coronavirus. Retrieved April 17, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Coronavirus: And then Donald Trump turns back to Sweden . In: The world . April 8, 2020 ( welt.de [accessed April 9, 2020]).
13. ↑ Because of Corona: Trump makes fun of EU country - the reaction comes prompt and hearty. In: Kreiszeitung.de. April 9, 2020, accessed April 9, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Public Health Authority in Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten), Stockholm, Total number of laboratory confirmed (Totalt antal laboratoriebekräftade) , in Swedish, accessed on September 1, 2020.
15. ^ First case of coronavirus confirmed in Sweden. In: thelocal.se. Retrieved March 29, 2020 . 
16. ↑ Ytterligare fall av covid-19 i flera regioner ( sv ) February 27, 2020. Accessed March 3, 2020.
17. ↑ Åsa Erlandsson: 20 anställda i karantän - S: t Görans i stabsäge (sv) . In: Svenska Dagbladet , March 9, 2020. 
18. ↑ SV Nyheter: Möjliga case av inhemsk smitta . In: SVT Nyheter . March 9, 2020 ( svt.se [accessed March 29, 2020]).
19. ↑ Flera tecken på samhällsspridning of covid-19 i Sverige - Folkhälsomyndigheten. March 10, 2020, accessed March 29, 2020 (Swedish). 
20. ↑ Frida Claesson: En person har avlidit till följd av coronaviruset . In: SVT Nyheter . March 11, 2020 ( svt.se [accessed March 29, 2020]).
21. ↑ Filip Persson, Stefan Bjarnefors: Clear: Inga evenemang med fler än 500 besökare. March 11, 2020, accessed March 29, 2020 (Swedish). 
22. ↑ Corona crisis: "Don't forbid everything" - Sweden's special way . In: The world . March 28, 2020 ( welt.de [accessed March 29, 2020]).
23. ↑ Covid-19 - coronavirus . 1177 Vårdguiden. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020: “När och var ska jag söka vård? De allra flesta som blir sjuka behöver inte söka vård eftersom besvaren brukar gå över av sig själv. "
24. ^ Ellinor Svensson, Stephanie Tinder Londéz: Svensk kvinna död i corona . In: SVT Nyheter . March 14, 2020 ( svt.se [accessed March 29, 2020]).
25. ↑ Hitta rätt i vården, Planera din resa, Färdtjänst och sjukresor, Om cookies, Om webbplatsen: Äldre patient med covid-19 har avlidit. Retrieved March 29, 2020 (Swedish). 
26. ↑ Antal case av covid-19 - Folkhälsomyndigheten. Retrieved March 29, 2020 (Swedish). 
27. ↑ Sweden Coronavirus: 3,447 Cases and 105 Deaths - Worldometer. Retrieved March 29, 2020 . 
28. ↑ Första dödsfallet i Skåne - totalt tio döda i Sverige. In: omni.se. March 18, 2020, accessed March 29, 2020 (Swedish). 
29. ↑ Heba Habib: 'I've never written so many death certificates': Is Sweden having second thoughts on lockdown? In: independent.co.uk. April 13, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
30. ↑ Christian Stichler, Stockholm: Has the Swedish special route failed? In: Zeit.de. April 24, 2020, accessed May 11, 2020 . 
31. ↑ Trump's Latest Attack on Sweden Revives Covid-19 Controversy. Bloomberg, May 1, 2020, accessed May 8, 2020 . 
32. ^ Swedish Public Health Authority (Folkhälsomyndigheten), Stockholm , in Swedish, accessed May 11, 2020.
33. ↑ Lotta Zachrisson: "Pandemin kommer ut successivt ebba" . In: SVT Nyheter . May 1, 2020 (Swedish, svt.se [accessed May 12, 2020]).
34. ↑ Jack Wright: Sweden could have 'herd immunity' by next month, claims its infectious diseases chief amid as deaths stay low despite relaxed lockdown measures. In: Mail Online. April 19, 2020, accessed April 20, 2020 (English). 
35. ↑ Covid-19 - Confusion about the Swedish way. In: Deutschlandfunk.de. May 6, 2020, accessed May 12, 2020 . 
36. ↑ Sven Lemkemeyer: The World Health Organization praises Sweden - why? In: Tagesspiegel.de. May 1, 2020, accessed May 12, 2020 . 
37. ↑ ^{a b} Sven Lemke Meyer: Every second has previously lived in a retirement home. In: Tagesspiegel.de. May 7, 2020, accessed May 12, 2020 . 
38. ↑ n-tv news: Every fifth person in Stockholm has antibodies. In: n-tv.de. May 20, 2020, accessed May 22, 2020 . 
39. ↑ Detection of antibodies according to Covid-19 in outpatient blood samples (subreport 1). In: folkhalsomyndigheten.se. June 18, 2020, accessed June 19, 2020 (Swedish). 
40. ↑ Sven Lemkemeyer: Coronavirus study in Sweden. In: Tagesspiegel.de. May 21, 2020, accessed May 22, 2020 . 
41. ↑ Sweden shares preliminary figures from antibody tests. In: thelocal.se. June 2, 2020, accessed on June 3, 2020 . 
42. ↑ Pressträff om covid-19, 2 June 2020. In: youtube.com. Folkhälsomyndigheten Sverige, June 2, 2020, accessed June 3, 2020 (Swedish). 
43. ↑ The Swedes' trust in the government collapses. In: tagesspiegel.se. June 5, 2020, accessed June 7, 2020 . 
44. ↑ Christian Stichler: An Admission with Consequences In: Zeit online , June 6, 2020, accessed on June 7, 2020
45. ↑ Sweden's chief epidemiologist admits errors in the corona crisis. In: Der Tagesspiegel. June 3, 2020, accessed June 5, 2020 . 
46. ↑ ^{a b} ZEIT ONLINE, AFP: Sweden introduces free Covid-19 tests. In: zeit.de. June 4, 2020, accessed June 6, 2020 . 
47. ↑ Reinhard Wolff: Corona in Sweden: Sonderweg under the microscope . In: The daily newspaper: taz . July 1, 2020, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed July 3, 2020]).
48. ↑ Sweden launches inquiry into coronavirus handling. In: ft.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020 . 
49. ^ Love Liman: Sweden Launches Commission to Investigate Coronavirus Response. In: bloomberg.com. July 1, 2020, accessed on July 1, 2020 . 
50. ↑ regieringen.se June 30, 2020 (Swedish)
51. ^ Swedish medical journal : Regeringen vill utreda nationellt beredskapslager
52. ↑ Tillsammans kan vi bromsa smittan! (Together we can slow down the transmission of diseases!) , In Swedish, Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2020 (PDF).
53. ↑ dpa: Sweden extends entry ban from non-EU countries until June 15. In: focus.de. May 17, 2020, accessed June 6, 2020 . 
54. ↑ The Swedish way: Without prohibitions through the Corona crisis. In: tagesschau.de. March 31, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 . 
55. ↑ Tagesschau: Video: Despite the corona pandemic: Sweden stays calm. In: youtube.com. April 17, 2020, accessed April 29, 2020 . 
56. ↑ Corona pandemic: The end of the Swedish special route? In: tagesschau.de. April 12, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 . 
57. ↑ CORONAVIRUS UPDATE EPISODE 32. (PDF) In: NDR.de. April 16, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 . 
58. ^ VIRUS: Sweden prohibits visits to old people's homes. dpa, March 31, 2020, accessed on June 8, 2020.
59. ↑ Coronavirus: These are the official recommendations to reduce the spread of the virus in Sweden. In: thelocal.se. June 4, 2020, accessed June 8, 2020 . 
60. ↑ Corona crisis: "Don't forbid everything" - Sweden's special way . In: The world . March 28, 2020 ( welt.de [accessed March 29, 2020]).
61. ↑ Video of the press conference of the Public Health Authority in Sweden on August 6, 2020, at 1:19 min., (Nya fall av covid-19 per dag), in Swedish. The graphic differentiates between newly discovered mild illnesses (turquoise) and serious illnesses (purple).
62. ↑ Sweden Coronavirus: 84,379 Cases and 5,808 Deaths - Worldometer. In: worldometers.info. Accessed August 31, 2020 . 
63. ↑ Number of deaths per day (Antal avlidna per dag) , Folkhälsomyndigheten, Stockholm, as of August 31, 2020, Excel table. The data are available on the Folkhälsomyndigheten - Bekräftade fall i Sverige page .