Archiv: Anders Tegnell
‘Closing borders is ridiculous’: the epidemiologist behind Sweden’s controversial coronavirus strategy
What would you have done differently?
We underestimated the issues at care homes, and how the measures would be applied. We should have controlled this more thoroughly. By contrast, the health system, which is under unusual pressure, has nevertheless always been ahead of the curve.
Are you satisfied with the strategy?
Yes! We know that COVID-19 is extremely dangerous for very old people, which is of course bad. But looking at pandemics, there are much worse scenarios than this one. Most problems that we have right now are not because of the disease, but because of the measures that in some environments have not been applied properly: the deaths among older people is a huge problem and we are fighting hard.
Sweden’s chief epidemiologist says lockdowns may not save lives because 50% of their deaths are in care homes – and they‘ll handle second wave better because they now have higher levels of immunity
A lockdown might not have saved lives in Sweden because half its coronavirus deaths are in care homes where visits are already banned, the country‘s top disease expert said today.
State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said it was ‚hard to understand‘ how a full-scale lockdown would have stopped the virus spreading into nursing homes.
While Sweden has avoided introducing a lockdown, it has banned visitors from care homes in one of its few restrictive measures, with schools, bars, shops and restaurants still open.