Health officials may have misjudged the power of coronavirus, Swedish PM says

The country is struggling in the midst of a second wave

Swedish PM Stefan Lofven. (TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Ima)

The Swedish prime minister has admitted that health officials may have misjudged the power of the coronavirus.

The country which decided to take the herd immunity approach in response to the first wave of coronavirus, now seems to be struggling as the second wave takes hold.

Prime minister Stefan Lofven told the Aftenposten newspaper “I think that most people in the profession didn't see such a wave in front of them, they talked about different clusters.”

Mr Lofven spoke just hours before results were released by a commission to look at how well Sweden dealt with the pandemic.

The government originally said that once the crisis was over, a commission would be appointed to look into the county’s pandemic response. In spite of this, the left-leaning government came under increased pressure and acted sooner.

This comes as the Scandinavian country recorded its highest ever mortality since the first year of the 1918-1920 Spanish flu pandemic. A total of 8,088 deaths from all causes was recorded Monday.

Tomas Johansson of Statistics Sweden said in a statement that in November 1918, 16,600 people died.

Sweden has seen a much higher death toll than neighbouring countries, Denmark, Norway and Finland. The number of recorded coronavirus cases is 320,098 and they have seen 7,514 deaths related to Covid-19.

When the first wave hit, Sweden’s only legal restrictions were the ban on events of more than 500 people. This number was later reduced to 50. People were asked to work from home if possible and avoid public transport, but this was only advice, not a legal restriction.

Since the second wave began in the autumn, Sweden has imposed stricter new restrictions. These have included a national ban on the sale of alcohol after 10pm in bars and restaurants until February 2021. Gatherings or more than eight people have also been banned and upper secondary schools have been shut.

Infections have rapidly increased, particular among Swedish medical staff.

On 9 December, the health authority in Stockholm declared that 99 per cent of its intensive care beds were full. The capital has requested assistance from the army and neighbours Norway and Finland have offered the country medical assistance.

Kirsi Varhila, permanent secretary at Finland’s ministry of social affairs and health, told Svenska Dagbladet newspaper: “We have not received an official request for help, but we assess on a daily basis what the hospital situation looks like and we are, of course, ready to help Sweden if we can.”