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Which parts of Stockholm have reported the most coronavirus-linked deaths?

The coronavirus outbreak has not hit society evenly, with most deaths reported in care homes and people born overseas and resident in lower income areas disproportionately hit by the virus. New data shows which areas and demographics have been worst affected in Stockholm.

Published: 3 July 2020 16:46 CEST
Which parts of Stockholm have reported the most coronavirus-linked deaths?
The suburb of Akalla, one of the worst hit areas in Stockholm. Photo: Bertil Ericson/SCANPIX

The report's authors concluded that coronavirus will in all likelihood be 2020's most common cause of death in the region.

The National Board of Health and Welfare's figures show that more people have died of the virus in Stockholm than died of heart attacks and strokes in all of 2019 – the agency bases its figures on the cause of death as assessed by a doctor, which means that even cases which haven't been confirmed by a diagnostic test are included in their figures.

The new report shared by Stockholm's Centre for Epidemiology and Civil Medicine (CES) shows how the virus has spread in residential care homes and in society more generally – and the patterns are different in different parts of the city.

There is significant variation in the death rate between neighbourhoods, even between areas located very close to each other. The death rate per 10,000 inhabitants ranged from 2.3 to 23; in other words, more than ten times as many people died in relation to the population in the worst affected spots.

In the areas of Akalla, Sköndal and Tensta, which are among the hardest hit by the virus, the infection has spread significantly both in care homes and among the general population.

Rinkeby and Husby were also among the worst hit suburbs, with high levels of fatalities, but the local care homes in those areas were barely affected at all.

The data in the report is accurate as of June 12th, when 2,123 people had died from the coronavirus in Stockholm according to the National Board of Health and Welfare (the number of people who had died after testing positive for the virus – regardless of whether or not that was the cause of death – was at the time 2,185 according to Stockholm health authorities; this is the figure reported to the Public Health Agency).

This was the first of a planned series of reports by the CES, with the next reports set to look more closely at patterns in socioeconomic background, occupation and household makeup of those most affected by the coronavirus.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article contained an error in the table. The deaths are measured per 10,000 residents, not per 100,000 as previously stated.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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