STOCKHOLM Corona rears its head again in both Finland and Sweden, but it is no longer classified as a universally dangerous disease.
It was different in the spring and winter of 2020. That’s when a virus spread, which turned out to be deadly, especially for the elderly and those with multiple illnesses.
At that time, the Swedish state epidemiologist was a specialist in infectious diseases Anders Tegnell, whose face also became familiar in other Nordic countries. Tegnell became famous especially because Sweden followed completely its own paths in the fight against the corona.
In Sweden, schools, universities and restaurants were not closed, and masks were not compulsory. Masks were only recommended for a short time in indoor spaces where there were a lot of people – such as buses.
In the other Nordic countries, people were surprised when life in Sweden seemed to continue as usual.
However, that was not the case. In Sweden, restaurant opening hours and customer numbers were limited, and a vaccination certificate was required for public events of more than 50 people. Remote work was urged, as well as vaccinations and to stay at home if you felt even a little flu-like.
The Swedish line was largely Tegnell’s face, although he emphasizes that the decisions were based on a wide group of experts.
Tegnell and his colleagues were not completely without loud criticism. In response to critics, the Public Health Agency and Tegnell emphasized that decisions must be based on scientific evidence.
Now Tegnell has compiled the experiences and lessons of his corona years into a book.
Two failures
Tegnell has no regrets, but according to him, Sweden failed in two areas: protecting the most fragile elderly and informing the “new Swedes”.
Sweden’s death rates in the first months of the corona virus were wild compared to other countries. The disease raged especially in nursing homes requiring care, where, according to Tegnell, 10,000 people live, which is a small part of the Swedish elderly.
– The tangle of problems was quite large. Nursing homes lacked protective equipment and staff training was found to be inadequate. Many of the employees were hourly workers and they didn’t want to miss their shift. There were also shortcomings in the nursing practices, meaning that the same nurses could treat both sick and healthy elderly people, Tegnell lists.
Last autumn’s elections were a disappointment for Tegnell. He would have hoped that care for the elderly would have become an election theme, because Korona had shown that, for example, there was much room for improvement in working relationships in nursing homes.
In Sweden, the politicians stayed on the sidelines
According to Tegnell, Sweden implemented a line that the experts had jointly assessed as the best, but which, for example, the other Nordic countries did not follow.
There needs to be an understandable explanation from Tegnell. The pressure on politicians intensified, which led to decisions on ever stricter and wider restrictions. In Finland, for example, schools and the province of Uusimaa were closed.
That didn’t happen in Sweden because, according to Tegnell, the country has a long tradition of experts making judgments and politicians standing their ground. Tegnell’s explanation seems to be valid even today. Swedes’ trust in the police is strong, even though the death toll from gang violence is similar to Mexico.
Tegnell says that the communication between health authorities and politicians was close, but the politicians did not intervene in the chosen line. The only hope was that the Public Health Agency would continue its almost daily corona reviews. A total of 198 of them were held, of which Tegnell participated in 105.
The support of the Swedes is crucial
Tegnell emphasizes that the Swedes’ support for the chosen line was decisive. It came from individual Swedes as well as from different communities.
– Without extensive support, this would not have been possible. Everyone has surely learned that lesson by now, that the people must be behind the chosen line if they want to succeed.
Did Tegnell ever experience feelings of despair in the first months of the corona?
– No, he answers the first one. For him, an epidemiologist, i.e. an infectious disease expert, has to look more broadly than just at neighboring countries, and according to Tegnell, Sweden’s death rates at that time were average.
Tegnell doesn’t like international match comparisons in connection with the corona. No, even if Sweden does well.
The statistics tell, how much of the population dies each year. If the number is clearly higher than expected, we talk about excess mortality.
When you look at the numbers from the three corona years and compare them to the three years before the corona, the final result will surely surprise everyone except Tegnell. Sweden’s excess mortality rate is the lowest in the Nordic countries.
Corona and an unfair world
Anders Tegnell quit as state epidemiologist a year ago. He was supposed to go to work at the World Health Organization WHO. It did not materialize, because the appointment was prolonged and in the end the position did not even exist. The now 67-year-old Tegnell is a senior specialist in international assignments at the Public Health Agency.
Developing countries are familiar to Tegnell. He lived in Ethiopia as a child and has worked as a doctor in, among other places, Laos and Zaire, which preceded the current Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he treated Ebola patients
During the corona years, international cooperation was not exemplary. Rich Western countries encouraged both protective equipment and vaccines.
The WHO is currently working on a pandemic agreement, which is hoped to prevent the worst injustices when the next corona-like disease threatens.
Tegnell is not overly hopeful.
– Many countries have shown that the international community had major shortcomings here. That is why these negotiations on the pandemic agreement are now taking place. The purpose is to do better next time. The final result is not yet known, and apparently everything is still a bit up in the air.
According to Tegnell, the countries of the world were not completely inactive even during the corona years. Vaccines were donated to developing countries with the help of, among other things, the WHO and the UN children’s organization Unicef.
– We got this Covax gradually started – i.e. the model by which vaccines would be distributed to the whole world, but it came quite late and there was far too little to distribute, especially at the beginning. So there are mechanisms, but there must also be a will to share.
Regarding Nordic cooperation, Tegnell is more hopeful. Corona is on display, for example, in the Nordic Council.
– Actually, this is being talked about on quite a few levels now. We are currently conducting a joint assessment with our sister agencies in the Nordic countries. I think that when the next crisis comes, our understanding will be much better than last time.
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