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HEALTH

Swedish opposition demands coronavirus commission

Sweden's two biggest opposition parties called on Friday for an independent commission to be appointed within weeks to probe the country's response to the coronavirus.

Swedish opposition demands coronavirus commission
People walk in Drottninggatan in Stockholm on May 29, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

The conservative Moderate Party and the populist Sweden Democrats said they wanted a commission in place before the summer.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, a Social Democrat, has repeatedly expressed support for a commission but has said he would appoint one after the pandemic was over.

There has been broad political unity over Sweden's softer approach to the new coronavirus, but most parties have agreed on the need to examine the government's crisis management.

Sweden, which on Friday reported 4,350 COVID-19 deaths, has struggled to protect its elderly from the illness, with more than three quarters of the dead residing in nursing homes or receiving at-home care.

A commission would also be likely to examine the country's economic response to the crisis, and its slow roll-out of testing for the illness.

While the government has raised its testing capacity to 100,000 tests a week, Sweden was at the end of May still only testing around 30,000 people a week due to bureaucratic bottlenecks.

“There are many parties that agree with us that (a commission) should be appointed as soon as possible and not wait until after the crisis,” Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson told reporters.

He said he would raise the issue in parliament next week if Lofven did not move on the issue. Kristersson's proposal enjoys broad support in parliament.

 

Member comments

  1. As a Portuguese living in Sweden,I am petrified with the Swedish notion of logic. The government trusts the population to behave correctly and not contaminate the fellow citizen by a deadly virus. But does not trust and therefore prohibits population to buy a simple bottle of wine from supermarkets.
    I find it very bizzar

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HEALTH

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Danish stores sold a significantly lower quantity of alcohol and cigarettes over the counter last year, new data from Statistics Denmark show.

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Some 3,852 cigarettes were sold year, which amounts to 804 per person over the age of 18. But that compares to a figures of 854 per person on 2022.

Cigarette sales in Denmark have been declining since 2018.

Sales of sprits, beer and wine fell by 7.8 percent, 5.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Danish business sold the equivalent of 44.4 million litres of pure alcohol, which works out at 11.9 units per week on average for each person over the age of 18.

Although that is a lower value than in 2022, it still exceeds the amount recommended by the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen).

The Health Authority recommends that adults over 18 drink no more than 10 units per week and no more than four in a single day.

READ ALSO: Should Denmark raise the minimum age for buying alcohol?

“The numbers are still too high and it’s an average that could have a skewed distribution,” University of Southern Denmark professor, Janne Tholstrup, said in relation to the alcohol sales figures. Tholstrup has published research on Denmark’s alcohol culture.

That is in spite of a 30-year-trend of falling alcohol consumption, according to the professor.

“The majority of Danes stay under the recommended 10 unite per week. That means there is a large group with a persistently excessive consumption of alcohol,” she said.

The Statistics Denmark figures also show that sales of loose tobacco – such as the type used in roll-up cigarettes and pipes – also fell last year. Some 58 tonnes less were sold compared to 2022.

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