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COVID-19

How Sweden’s Covid recommendations are set to change next month

Sweden will scrap a Covid-specific recommendation to self-isolate if you've got symptoms from the start of next month, but a few guidelines still remain in place.

Published: 27 June 2023 13:04 CEST
photo showing a negative Covid test
Swedish laws still state that people should do what they can to avoid infecting others, but there will soon no longer be any Covid-specific rules in place. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

That said, Swedish laws on communicable diseases still state in general that anyone who has an infectious disease should take appropriate actions to protect others against infection (which could include self-isolating).

“Covid-19 is still a disease that could be serious for some people. The rules of the Communicable Diseases Act still apply, that someone who knows, or has reason to suspect, that they carry an infectious disease must do what is necessary to protect others from infection,” said state epidemiologist Anders Lindblom in a statement.

“The best way of protecting yourself from serious Covid-19 illness is to get vaccinated in accordance with current recommendations and be careful to get a booster dose,” he added.

The only formal Covid-specific recommendations that will remain for the public after July 1st are guidelines about who should get vaccinated.

There are, as of March 1st, no longer any recommendations for people aged 18-49 to get vaccinated (the previous recommendation for this age group was three doses).

People aged 50-79, and younger people at risk, are recommended to have had the basic Covid vaccinations of three doses, plus one dose ahead of the winter season.

Over-80s should have had three doses, plus another two doses between March 1st 2023 and February 29th 2024.

The World Health Organization’s European office on Tuesday warned the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in Europe.

The global health body on May 5th announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency”.

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

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COVID-19

Anders Tegnell: Sweden’s Covid strategy ‘a misunderstanding’

After emerging as the figurehead of Sweden's controversial, less strict Covid-19 strategy, former state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell reflects on his country's path in a new book published on November 3rd.

Published: 3 November 2023 08:37 CET
Anders Tegnell: Sweden's Covid strategy 'a misunderstanding'

“We were not any kind of libertarian paradise,” Tegnell told AFP during an in interview at his publisher’s office in Stockholm.

“We were just a society trying to find good ways to handle it in the most effective way for us,” he continued.

As countries around the world started extensive lockdowns in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus, Sweden stood out as it opted for more non-coercive measures.

Among some of its stricter measures it did ban visits to elderly care homes and limit the number of people attending public gatherings.

But it never imposed confinement, closed schools or required people to wear masks, basing its strategy on recommendations and individual responsibility.

The approach gave rise to a heated debate abroad, and was at times held up as a cautionary tale, or on the contrary, hailed by opponents of lockdowns.

“Obviously, many perceived Swedish volunteerism as a passive approach,” Tegnell writes in his book, calling it a “misunderstanding,” while conceding communication from his agency could have been better at times.

Nursing homes

Titled “Tankar efter en pandemi” (Thoughts after a pandemic), the book reflects the phlegmatic character of the public official, with each stage of the national strategy methodically dissected and explained.

“I also thought that people actually could handle this themselves,” he notes in his book and adds that he believes his faith was justified.

“We did not force anyone but saw a huge compliance with our recommendations,” Tegnell writes.

Having become the figurehead of Sweden’s strategy in spite of himself, Tegnell recounts his astonishment at the anger and even death threats directed against him.

But he insists that a majority of Swedes supported the country’s Public Health Agency: “It was the first time that our agency had received so many flowers!”

During the first wave of the pandemic, Sweden was one of the countries hit hard, especially as the disease ravaged retirement homes, claiming the lives of 2,780 people between March 1st and September 30th, 2020, according to official statistics.

In his book, Tegnell calls it a “catastrophic situation.”

“We really need to improve the quality of care in our elderly homes, the preparedness for these kinds of issues,” Tegnell told AFP.

In total, Sweden has recorded some 19,500 deaths associated with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.

Due to differences in accounting practices, international comparisons are difficult, but according to the “Our World in Data” website, Sweden is doing better than its European peers with 2,365 deaths per million inhabitants compared to 2,767 per million average for the European Union by late October.

At the start of the pandemic, the epidemiologist thought it would be easier to care for the elderly in Sweden than elsewhere in Europe, because they were all gathered together in one place, but in his book he admits he “was completely wrong,” as the homes lacked both the resources and skills needed.

Are we prepared?

Sweden also distinguished itself by never pushing for the widespread use of face masks, and they were only recommended on public transport during the second wave of the pandemic.

“Many countries in Asia have been using masks in public places for decades to limit the spread of the virus during the flu season. Had they been doing it wrong all these years?,” Tegnell ponders.

“It wasn’t my role to judge,” he continues.

“But in all the research, I couldn’t find any evidence that it made a difference for the better.” The scientist also urges authorities and organisations to take stock of the pandemic to learn for the future: “What happened and what did we do?”

The answers and conclusions drawn will be invaluable, as the epidemiologist considers a future pandemic to be inevitable, and likely “within the next few decades”.

“In many parts of the world the population is growing, which means that we start living in areas where we haven’t been before and in those areas there are very likely going to be new kinds of viruses that we haven’t seen before,” Tegnell said during the interview.

Whether we are prepared for the next one is “always difficult to know.”

“I think that we are slightly better prepared than we were for this one. But I think there is also lots more work to be done,” he concluded.

By AFP’s Nioucha Zakavati

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