Sweden Claims Its High Coronavirus Death Toll Is Down to Mild Flu Seasons in Recent Years

The state epidemiologist of Norway has criticized his Swedish counterpart, after he claimed that Sweden had a better variety of coronavirus deaths on account of milder flu seasons.

Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, instructed the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, in accordance with a translation by The Local, {that a} new report confirmed “a strong connection between a low excess mortality rate from the flu and high excess mortality from COVID-19, and vice versa.”

He mentioned: “What people are now seeing is that countries which have a rather low death rate from flu over the past two to three years have a very high excess mortality from COVID-19, while those that have had a high flu death rate, like Norway, over the past two winters, have a low COVID death rate.”

Of the greater than 30 million coronavirus circumstances recognized through the pandemic and the 946,140 recorded deaths, Sweden accounts for 87,885 and 5,864, respectively, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University. Sweden has a inhabitants of 10.3 million.

Norway, which has a inhabitants of 5.4 million, has had 12,644 circumstances and 266 deaths.

Norway’s state epidemiologist, Frode Forland, questioned the concept that his nation had skilled extra extreme flu seasons just lately. Speaking to The Local.No, Forland described the current flu seasons in Norway and Sweden as “rather mild.”

He mentioned Norway had a comparatively low variety of coronavirus deaths as a result of it timed its lockdown nicely, and was in a position to forestall the virus from spreading early on within the pandemic.

Forland mentioned Norway and Sweden had each had a relative lack of success at stopping the virus from spreading in aged care properties, making up about 60 % of deaths in every nation.

According to the European Centre For Disease Prevention and Control annual epidemiological report, Sweden low ranges of depth within the 2019/2020 season, as did Norway. The 2018 to 2019 flu season in Sweden had durations of low and medium ranges of depth, as did Norway. In 2017/2018, Sweden had low, medium, and excessive ranges of depth, whereas Norway had low and medium.

Forland instructed Dagens Nyheter that deaths from the flu in Norway and Sweden weren’t that totally different. “When it comes to the death toll from influenza in recent years, we’re working on getting a detailed picture, but it doesn’t look like there has been a particularly high death toll connected to influenza in recent years in Norway,” he mentioned.

The Public Health Agency of Sweden declined to remark.

Sweden has been singled out amid the pandemic for not legally imposing lockdowns as many different international locations, together with its European neighbors, did. It as an alternative gave residents steerage on the way to act through the pandemic. Shops, eating places, and gymnasiums remained open, however colleges and universities had been closed to over-16s. Public gatherings of greater than 50 folks had been banned, and over-70s and people with COVID-19 signs had been instructed to self-isolate. It has additionally not mandated face masks use.

In Norway, the federal government applied a lockdown on March 12, which was partially eased on May 7.

This article has been up to date with remark from the Public Health Agency of Sweden, and extra data.