Swedish authorities on Friday denounced the World Health Organization’s decision to classify the Nordic kingdom as one of the countries with “high resurgence” of new coronavirus cases, citing a “total misinterpretation” Swedish data.
The European branch of the WHO had included the day before Sweden, which chose an isolated approach in Europe by not confining its population to fight against the new coronavirus, in a list of eleven countries in total where “the acceleration of the transmission caused a strong resurgence” of the virus. This list also includes Armenia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Kosovo. In these countries, “The acceleration of transmission has led to a strong resurgence. If the latter is not controlled, it will bring Europe’s health systems to the brink, once again”, said the director of the WHO Europe branch, Hans Kluge, at a press conference.
Twice as many tests
A statement deemed Friday “very serious” by the Swedish epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, from the Public Health Agency, interviewed by Swedish public television. “We have an increasing number of cases detected in Sweden, but that is because we are screening much more than before”, pleaded the Scandinavian doctor. At the same time, he explained, “admissions to hospitals and intensive care are decreasing”. According to official data, a dozen people are admitted to intensive care every day at this time, against about 40 during the peak in April.
Later in the day, in an email to AFP, WHO Europe acknowledged that “the government had increased screening tests, which is reflected in the number of new cases reported since early June” and say “observe several very positive trends” in the kingdom, notably a decrease in the number of new deaths linked to the virus.
In one month, screening tests for Covid-19 disease doubled in Sweden, reaching more than 61,000 weekly tests in mid-June, according to data from the Public Health Agency. A massive test campaign was announced in April but took nearly two months to set up. However, WHO judges, Sweden is currently “still facing community transmission”.
The organization has not said whether it will remove the Nordic kingdom from the list of eleven countries. On Friday, the death toll in Sweden reached 5,280 dead, with 50 new deaths recorded in 24 hours. Compared to its population, the Scandinavian country has the fifth lowest Covid mortality rate in the world, five to twelve times higher than that of its northern neighbors (Norway, Finland, Denmark).
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