Sweden's liberal pandemic strategy questioned as Stockholm death toll mounts

[dann]

The Swedish situation today

Sedan i fredags har 491 personer bekräftats smittade i Uppsala län. 61 personer vårdas på sjukhus.
– Vi är djupt oroade över utvecklingen, säger hälso- och sjukvårdsdirektör Mikael Köhler.
Dramatisk ökning av antalet sjuka: ”Följ råden som om de vore lag” (SVT.se, Nov. 2, 2020)

Since Friday, 491 people have been confirmed infected in Region Uppsala. 61 are treated in hospital.
-We are deeply worried about the development, says health and hospital director Mikael Köhler.
Dramatic increase in the number of patients: ”Follow the recommendations as if they were the law”

Antalet coronapatienter i behov av sjukhusvård har ökat med över 50 sedan i fredags.
Sjukvårdsdirektören: ”Det är ett mycket bekymmersamt läge” (DagensNyheter.se, Nov. 2, 2020)

The number of corona patients in need of hospitalization has increased by 50 since Friday.
Hospital director: ”The situation is very worrying”

Hemma anses man vara idiot om man har mask (Expressen.se, Nov. 1, 2020)
Back home you are considered to be an idiot if you wear a face mask Swedes on vacation in Spain

 

[Samson]

Do you mean this? (7:30-10:00)
The Panel with Stephen Franks and Pam Corkery - part 2 (RNZ, Nov. 2, 2020)

Yes that is it, that guy was quite a high profile politician in the Act party. It shows that New Zealand was quite capable of letting the virus rip with different parliamentary configurations. Good friends of mine would be dead.

 

[dann]

In all fairness, the UK's population density is quite focussed too although I accept as a premise that Scotland will have a significantly lower overall density than our cousins south of the Border.

Even when most people live in cities, the distance between those cities will affect how fast an infectious disease spreads from city to city. If many people commute between cities because the cities are very close, localized lockdowns/restrictions will be more difficult to implement.

 

[PhantomWolf]

Whilst .... NZ has the population evenly spread throughout the country

You are apparently unaware that Auckland has 1.6 million of our 5 million people, and when you add in the cities of Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton you have over 50% of our population in just those four cities! The vast majority of the rest of the population is spread about cities around the coast such as Dunedin, Invercargill, Nelson, Palmerston North, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Napier, Gisborne, Tauranga, and Whakatane.

 

[lionking]

You are apparently unaware that Auckland has 1.6 million of our 5 million people, and when you add in the cities of Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton you have over 50% of our population in just those four cities! The vast majority of the rest of the population is spread about cities around the coast such as Dunedin, Invercargill, Nelson, Palmerston North, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Napier, Gisborne, Tauranga, and Whakatane.

Don’t worry about it. You have already been told that your nation is insignificant. Although you must have surprised some of our Nordic friends with the news that your island of itinerant fishers actually has cities.

 

[dann]

Denmark’s number of new cases seems to have stopped rising but is not really falling yet.
Norway’s is rising fast..
Due to Iceland’s many cases and the resulting number of deaths in recent weeks, their number of per-capita deaths is closing in on Norway’s. One Icelandic death = about three per million.
I had not noticed till now, but on Oct. 7, 9 and 22 Greenland had one case each day, tested upon arrival, so no community spread.

Monday:
Coronavirus - countries (Worldometers, Nov. 2, 2020)
Deaths per million (Total deaths) New cases Serious/Critical
Sweden: 587 (5,938) 3,188* 59 *according to SVT.se No new numbers till Tuesday
Denmark: 125 (724) 942 23
Finland: 65 (359) 109 13
Norway: 52 (282) 704 10
Iceland: 47 (16) 41 4
Iceland has 905 active cases, Faroe Islands 5, New Zealand 81.
The Faroe Islands have 26 in quarantine, 0 hospitalized.

Yesterday’s round of 647 Covid-19 tests yielded one positive result.
The infected person, who tested positive on arrival from abroad, has been isolated and contact tracing is underway.
Over the past week, the daily number of positive tests has been as follows: 0, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0 and 1.
One new Covid case (KVF.fo, Nov. 1, 2020)

 

[Vixen]

A couple more, also not about the use of opioids:






Some Swedish care home residents received insufficient healthcare: watchdog report (TheLocal.se, July 7, 2020)

One reason very elderly people were not given drastic treatment is because doctors began realising that whilst intubation on a ventilator - which is a brutal process involving tracheotomy - is effective for respiratory distress syndrome, Covid19 is rather more complicated insofar it causes blood clots and clusters of blood vessel inflammation and it was only something like 25% effective on fit younger persons, so it was more to do with compassion and weighing up the pros and cons of this type of extreme treatment.

 

[Vixen]

Since Friday, 491 people have been confirmed infected in Region Uppsala. 61 are treated in hospital.
-We are deeply worried about the development, says health and hospital director Mikael Köhler.
Dramatic increase in the number of patients: ”Follow the recommendations as if they were the law”


The number of corona patients in need of hospitalization has increased by 50 since Friday.
Hospital director: ”The situation is very worrying”

Hemma anses man vara idiot om man har mask (Expressen.se, Nov. 1, 2020)
Back home you are considered to be an idiot if you wear a face mask Swedes on vacation in Spain

This type of attitude is incredibly stupid:

Will you have mouth guards at home?

- No, Lisbeth answers firmly.

- Possibly if you have to go to the hospital. But at home you are considered an idiot if you have a mask, then they think you are sick and should not go out.

Lisbeth, just wear a mask. Cover most of your face if you are that worried about what ignorant people might think. Put a balaclava over it, then you'll be completely anonymous, I promise.

 

[dann]

One reason very elderly people were not given drastic treatment is because doctors began realising that whilst intubation on a ventilator - which is a brutal process involving tracheotomy - is effective for respiratory distress syndrome, Covid19 is rather more complicated insofar it causes blood clots and clusters of blood vessel inflammation and it was only something like 25% effective on fit younger persons, so it was more to do with compassion and weighing up the pros and cons of this type of extreme treatment.

I wish it were true, the compassion thing, but no, that was just subterfuge. People could have been saved by being placed in ICUs. Yes, tracheotomy "is a brutal process," but it is less brutal than letting people suffocate to death. You know, anesthesia is available for the whole intubation process, too. Except, of course, in Sweden maybe it wasn't.

There are all kinds of anticoagulants available for handling the blood clots. The blood clots weren't the reason why people were left to die at home or in nursing homes.

 

[dann]

En kartläggning som SVT Nyheter har gjort visar att över 600 patienter just nu får vård för covid-19 i Sverige. I flera län har antalet inlagda ökat snabbt.
Antalet covid-patienter har mer än fördubblats på två veckor (SVT.se, Nov. 2, 2020)

Mapping done by SVT News shows that more than 600 patients in Sweden are hospitalized for Covid-19 right now. In several regions, the number of hospitalzations has increased rapidly.
The number of Covid-19 patients has more than doubled in two weeks

For Swedes who consider this to be some kind of competition with Denmark:

Indlagt 174
+18 siden i går
Nyeste coronatal fra Danmark og resten af verden (TV2.dk, Oct. 2, 2020)

Hospitalized 174
+18 since yesterday
Latest corona numbers from Denmark and the rest of the world

 

[Vixen]

Meanwhile, 'Finland is the only country in Europe with less than 50/100,000 of the population' infected in the last two weeks - assuming Estonia is excepted. Yay.

That’s because Finland is now the only country in Europe where the number of coronavirus cases is lower than 50 per 100,000 population in the last two weeks: the threshold the Estonian government has set. Finland now has 48.5 according to Estonian data.

https://newsnowfinland.fi/finland-international/estonia-opens-up-quarantine-free-travel-for-finns

Psst. Finland aren't really doing mass testing - only if you have symptoms, but don't tell Estonia. <fx wink>

 

[dann]

I don't think you have to assume that Estonia is excepted. A country with more than 50 cases per 100,000 can open up to another country with fewer cases, obviously. It doesn't say anything about the country's own numbers.
Worldometers: Coronavirus: Country: Estonia
The question is if Finland accepts the offer. Estonia appears to have had more than 50 cases per 100,000 (always conspicuously few on Mondays!), and the number is definitely rising.

 

[dann]

Region Uppsala inför stabsläge (Sydsvenskan.se, Nov. 3, 2020)
Region Uppsala announces state of emergency
I can't think of a good translation of the term stabsläge, but it means that there is a disaster on the horizon, but it isn't actually there yet. It is announced to begin today at 13:00 CET.

PM Löfven is expected to announce new restrictions at a press briefing at 13:15 (Aftonbladet.se, Nov. 3, 2020).

 

[jimbob]

You are apparently unaware that Auckland has 1.6 million of our 5 million people, and when you add in the cities of Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton you have over 50% of our population in just those four cities! The vast majority of the rest of the population is spread about cities around the coast such as Dunedin, Invercargill, Nelson, Palmerston North, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Napier, Gisborne, Tauranga, and Whakatane.

And Taiwan has 22-million people with only um... 2.4 -times the population density of the UK.

Also the effective population density in South Korea is pretty high as large areas are mountainous.

It's almost as though that's not the issue.

 

[dann]

New cases in Sweden:
Tuesday, Sep. 15: 840 - since Friday, according to SVT.se
Tuesday, Sep. 22: 1199 - since Friday, according to SVT.se
Tuesday, Sep. 29: 1,543 - since Friday, according to SVT.se
Tuesday, Oct. 6: 1,862 - since Friday, according to SVT.se
Tuesday, Oct. 13: 2,203 - since Friday, according to SVT.se
Tuesday, Oct. 20: 3,180 - since Friday, according to SVT.se
Tuesday, Oct. 27: 5,191 - since Friday, according to SVT.se

Tuesday, Nov. 3: 10,177 - since Friday, according to SVT.se
31 deaths.


ETA: In Stockholm, it is now as difficult to get tested as it was in spring. You can't get tested unless you are seriously ill:

Hemtester går inte längre att beställa just nu. Även drive-in testerna är omöjliga att boka och man får bara testa sig på vårdcentral om man är ordentligt sjuk
Senaste nytt om coronaviruset (SVT.se, Nov. 3, 2020 - 14:41)

Home tests can no longer be ordered, for the time being. It is even impossible to book drive-in tests, and you can only get tested at a health center if you are seriously ill.
Latest news about the coronavirus

 

[dann]

And there are more new cases in Denmark, too. Record high: 1,353

 

[PhantomWolf]

And Taiwan has 22-million people with only um... 2.4 -times the population density of the UK.

Also the effective population density in South Korea is pretty high as large areas are mountainous.

It's almost as though that's not the issue.

The thing is that if you can blame it on population density or not being an Island, or "Jhinah" then you don't have to accept that the real fault lies with your government and yourselves. Humans have this inbuilt dislike for taking responsibility for their errors and admitting that they got this wrong and it's costing hundreds of lives, well that is too much so far better to throw away the masks and then blame it all on things out of their control.

 

[dann]

Humans have this inbuilt dislike for taking responsibility for their errors and admitting that they got this wrong and it's costing hundreds of lives, well that is too much so far better to throw away the masks and then blame it all on things out of their control.

Some humans, not all of them. Others are actually able to learn from their mistakes and correct their behavior and expectations accordingly.

Smittspridningen i Sverige är just nu högre än i samtliga av Folkhälsomyndighetens tre scenarier.
Utvecklingen följer även delar av MSB:s mer allvarliga tänkbara förlopp.
– Jag tror inte att man någonstans i Europa hade förutsett att det skulle bli en sådan här dramatisk utveckling, säger statsepidemiolog Anders Tegnell.
Smittspridningen högre än FHM:s värsta scenario (DagensNyheter.se, Nov. 3, 2020)

The contagion in Sweden is now higher than in all three of the scenarios of the Public Health Agency.
The developement even follows parts of MSB’s more serious hypothetical developments.
– I don’t think people anywhere in Europe had imagined a dramatic development like this, says national epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.
The spread of the virus is higher than in the Public Health Agency’s worst scenario

I don’t know about the rest of Europe, but Anders Tegnell himself was convinced that there would be no second wave in Sweden because of Sweden’s many infections in the first four months of the pandemic and the alleged level of (herd) immunity in the country. And for the past month or so, he has been busy telling his compatriots that it was a European, but not a Swedish problem. Europe had a second wave, Sweden didn’t.

När beskedet om skärpta lokala råd i Uppsala län kom vårdades sex covidpatienter på intensiven. Två veckor senare är siffran tolv.
– Känns som att det är fritt fall, säger Fredrik Sund, verksamhetschef för infektionskliniken på Akademiska sjukhuset.
Dubbelt så många inlagda på IVA – trots hårdare restriktioner (SVT.se, Nov. 3, 2020)

When the message about tighter local recommendations in Uppsala came, there were six Covid-19 patients in intensive care. Two weeks later, there are twelve.
– It feels like free falling, says Fredrik Sund, director of the clinic of infectious diseases at Akademiska hospital.
Twice as many hospitalized in ICUs – in spite of harder restrictions

 

[dann]

Tuesday:
Coronavirus - countries (Worldometers, Nov. 3, 2020)
Deaths per million (Total deaths) New cases Serious/Critical
Sweden: 590 (5,969) 10,177* 77 *according to SVT.se
Denmark: 126 (728) 1,353 22
Finland: 65 (359) 237 13
Norway: 52 (282) 617 10
Iceland: 47 (16) 27 4
Iceland has 861 active cases, Faroe Islands 5, New Zealand 75.
The Faroe Islands have 19 in quarantine, 0 hospitalized.
No plans to enforce Covid compliance (KVF.fo, Nov. 3, 2020)

 

[dann]

Dagens spørgetime i folketingssalen er aflyst, og flere ministre er gået i hjemmekarantæne.
Coronavirus rammer folketinget: 'Det går ikke, at Christiansborg bliver en smitteborg' (DR.dk, Nov. 3, 2020)

The debate in parliament today has been cancelled, and several ministers are self-quarantining.
Coronavirus strikes the Danish parliament: 'We can’t have Christiansborg turning into a herd of infection'

Justitsministeren er smittet med coronavirus - flere ministre venter på testsvar (DR.dk, Nov. 4, 2020)
The minister of justice has been infected - several ministers are awaiting test results