Infection numbers in Sweden are increasing again significantly
After a few weeks with decreasing numbers, Sweden is also seeing significantly more new infections again. The health authority (FHM) has just reported 668 positive tests within 24 hours. There are now more than 94,283 confirmed cases in the country of around 10.2 million inhabitants. The day before, there had been 752 new infections, the highest level since June.
There have also been two more deaths since Thursday. The number of people who died in connection with Covid 19 disease is 5895. Sweden was also heavily criticized internationally because of the high death rate, as the FHM and the government had decided against a lockdown.
On September 29, the 7-day average value for daily new infections was now around 42 cases – twice as high as in Germany. The capital Stockholm is particularly affected. Most infections and deaths have been recorded there so far. However, Sweden tested almost twice as much in September than in August, with an average of around 136,000 smears per week. As a result, many mild or symptom-free diseases were discovered that would otherwise not have been registered. Nevertheless, there is also an absolute increase in new infections in Sweden, which can be concluded from the increase in the rate of positive tests from 1.2 to 1.5 percent. Here, too, the development is similar to that in Germany, where the rate climbed from below 1 to around 1.2 recently.
In view of these numbers, the reminders become more urgent. “Work from home, don’t hug,” said Prime Minister Stefan Löfven last week.
And the much-criticized state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, who is setting the course for the country in the pandemic, now seems to have doubts that appeals and recommendations in autumn and winter will no longer be sufficient. He just told the newspaper “Dagens Nyheter”: “It’s slowly but surely going in the wrong direction.” For the first time, Tegnell was open to exit restrictions and school closings – albeit limited to individual districts and a few weeks.
