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COVID-19

Sweden’s new Covid wave could rival last year’s: public health agency

Sweden's public health agency has warned that a new winter wave of Covid infections could end up with a similar number of patients being treated in hospital as there were at the peak of the Omicron wave last winter.

Sweden's new Covid wave could rival last year's: public health agency
Sara Byfors, unit chief at the Public Health Agency of Sweden, holds a press conference on December 10th. Photo: Stefan Jerrevång/TT

In a the higher of the two scenarios published on Tuesday, in which the infection rate increases by 10 percent from current levels, the agency expects over 250 patients would end up being admitted to hospitals across the country each day at the peak of infections in mid-January. 

“If we look at the pressure on hospitals from these two scenarios, what we are seeing is that this is in line with how it looked in January and February last year,” Sara Byfors, chief of division at the agency, told the TT newswire.

Around 13 patients of those new patients would be sufficiently ill each day to require admittance to intensive care, a lower number than was the case in 2021 and early 2022, however.  

“As the number of infected rises, so does the number of people who need intensive care, but not to the same level as earlier in the pandemic,” Byfors said. 

In the graphs below you can see how many people could end up being being treated in hospital and intensive care (IVA) by the peak in mid-January.  

Source: Public Health Agency of Sweden

The health agency said it had seen “a significant rise in infections over the past two weeks”, at the same time as “a significant spread of both the RS and the influensa viruses”.

While neither the public health agency nor the government were currently planning to bring back infection control measures, it is possible that increased testing and other measures could be brought in to control the spread of infection in some regions and municipalities. 

Byfors said that many hospitals faced “a tough situation” over Christmas with a lot of people off on Christmas leave and a lot of personnel off sick. 

Three hospitals in Stockholm have already called a “state of readiness”, or stabsläge, as a result of a rise in the number of patients, and hospitals in Gothenburg and northern Sweden are also feeling the strain. 

On Tuesday, 630 people were being treated for Covid-19 in hospitals in Stockholm, an increase of 108 in a single week and the highest number since February 8th. 

“It’s gone up significantly in the recent weeks, and we also have the RS virus, which is also growing rapidly and is zooming right up. We even have a few influensa patients,” said Johan Bratt, the chief doctor in Region Stockholm.  

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HEALTH

Sweden to roll out English-language blood donation in more regions

English speakers who don’t speak Swedish can currently only donate blood in Stockholm, but The Local has been told of plans to roll out the service to Gothenburg and Uppsala in the year ahead.

Sweden to roll out English-language blood donation in more regions

“The decision has been made and a process to introduce it is under way,” GeBlod press spokesperson Ulrika Ljung told The Local when we contacted the blood donor organisation on Friday.

We were not told of concrete plans to introduce English-language blood donation in any other regions at this stage.

The reason it’s only possible to donate blood in Swedish in most regions is because the donor must fully understand the health declaration they must sign, which ensures the blood is safe.

Five years ago, Stockholm became the first region in Sweden to translate the relevant material and train staff in medical English. But as healthcare is run at a regional level, it is up to individual regions to decide whether to make this possible in their regions.

FACT CHECK:

Sweden needs more blood to be able to cope with crisis situations, GeBlod warned in a statement on June 14th as part of the World Blood Donor Day campaign. Yet the number of people who signed up as blood donors in 2023 fell by 14 percent compared to the year before.

Although Sweden is self-sufficient in blood, it said the number of blood donors needs to double to strengthen preparedness for a potential attack or crisis.

Sixty percent of donated blood in 2023 was donated by people over the age of 45.

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