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Sweden Restricts Gatherings to Eight People As Cases Reach Record Highs
NEWS BMJ: first published as 10.1136/bmj.m4508 on 19 November 2020. Downloaded from Stockholm, Sweden Cite this as: BMJ 2020;371:m4508 Sweden restricts gatherings to eight people as cases reach record http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4508 highs Published: 19 November 2020 Marta Paterlini Sweden’s population of 10 million will be subject to tougher restrictions from 24 November after the prime minister announced that gatherings will be limited to eight people for four weeks, down from events involving up to 300 people, which have been permitted to date. “This is the new norm for the entire society, because it’s going to get worse,” Stefan Löfven said, adding that a total lockdown was not an option. The highly debated Swedish soft approach to controlling the coronavirus pandemic, based on recommendations and voluntary behaviour of citizens, continues to be challenged by a surge in new infections, hospitalisations, and deaths. The resurgence of the disease hit Sweden weeks later than much of continental Europe, but cases have been on the rise since the start of November. On 13 November, the last day for which national data are available, Sweden reported a daily record of 5990 cases, bringing its overall total to 177 355 cases and 6164 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Commenting on the current situation in Europe, Anders Tegnell, state epidemiologist at the Swedish Public Health Agency and face of the country’s soft strategy, said that the large increase in cases seen in many countries in early autumn was starting to level off. -
Swedish Response to COVID-19
China CDC Weekly Policy Notes Swedish Response to COVID-19 Johan Carlson1; Anders Tegnell1,# Editorial Among the global responses to expectancies of 81.3 years for males and 84.7 years for COVID-19, Sweden’s response has received both females; low maternal and child mortality rates; and a demographic distribution with 20% of the population praise and criticism for the implementation of >65 years (1). Sweden has highly-subsidized universal certain measures. This paper, provided by Public healthcare coverage. Management of the healthcare Health Agency Sweden’s Director General Johan system, including communicable disease response, is Carlson and State Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, decentralized to 21 regions. The Public Health Agency describes the main goals of Sweden’s public health coordinates communicable disease response nationally response: minimizing transmission, mortality, and and has a broad mandate for public health, including morbidity; minimizing other negative health prevention and control of non-communicable diseases effects and externalities of the pandemic; and and support for mental health and health equity. safeguarding essential services in the society. Government expert agencies in Sweden have strong While some of the stances or strategies described mandates at the national level to inform policy; trust may differ from China CDC’s recommendations among the general population in government or other measures adopted in China, China CDC institutions and the healthcare system is fairly high (2). Weekly seeks to act as a platform for global voices to disseminate and discuss a variety of viewpoints THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK to achieve an improved, mutual understanding of our counterparts. IN SWEDEN Sweden had a massive introduction of the virus in February 2020, particularly in Stockholm, and not INTRODUCTION only from the Alps. -
Infectivity of SARS-Cov-2 and Other Coronaviruses on Dry Surfaces: Potential for Indirect Transmission
materials Review Infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Coronaviruses on Dry Surfaces: Potential for Indirect Transmission Max Bueckert 1,* , Rishi Gupta 2,* , Aditi Gupta 3, Mohit Garg 2 and Asit Mazumder 4 1 Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada 2 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada; [email protected] 3 Mearns Centre for Learning—McPherson Library, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada; [email protected] 4 Department of Biology, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (M.B.); [email protected] (R.G.) Received: 20 October 2020; Accepted: 16 November 2020; Published: 18 November 2020 Abstract: The unwavering spread of COVID-19 has taken the world by storm. Preventive measures like social distancing and mask usage have been taken all around the globe but still, as of September 2020, the number of cases continues to rise in many countries. Evidently, these measures are insufficient. Although decreases in population density and surges in the public’s usage of personal protective equipment can mitigate direct transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), indirect transmission of the virus is still probable. By summarizing the current state of knowledge on the stability of coronaviruses on dry materials, this review uncovers the high potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through contaminated surfaces (i.e., fomites) and prompts future research. Fully contextualized data on coronavirus persistence are presented. -
Comparing the Scope and Efficacy of COVID-19 Response Strategies In
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Comparing the Scope and Efficacy of COVID-19 Response Strategies in 16 Countries: An Overview Liudmila Rozanova 1,2,*, Alexander Temerev 1 and Antoine Flahault 1,2,3,4 1 Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland; [email protected] (A.T.); antoine.fl[email protected] (A.F.) 2 Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland 3 Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), 8001 Zurich, Switzerland 4 Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG), 1205 Geneva, Switzerland * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 17 October 2020; Accepted: 14 December 2020; Published: 16 December 2020 Abstract: This article synthesizes the results of case studies on the development of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and control measures by governments in 16 countries. When this work was conducted, only 6 months had passed since the pandemic began, and only 4 months since the first events were recognized outside of China. It was too early to draw firm conclusions about the effectiveness of measures in each of the selected countries; however, the authors present some efforts to identify and classify response and containment measures, country-by-country, for future comparison and analysis. There is a significant variety of policy tools and response measures employed in different countries, and while it is still hard to directly compare the different approaches based on their efficacy, it will definitely provide many inputs for the future data analysis efforts. Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; case studies; comparison; public health; epidemic response 1. Introduction In some European, North American, and South East Asian countries and territories, the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic was showing a decline in late June 2020 when it was raging in other parts of the world, particularly in the United States, Latin America, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. -
Call for Papers: Special Issue on the Epidemiology of Leishmaniasis in Europe
Call for papers: special issue on the epidemiology of leishmaniasis in Europe Eurosurveillance invites authors to submit papers for a special issue on the surveillance and epidemiology of leishmaniasis in Europe. Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne disease transmitted by sand flies, is endemic in southern European countries. Autochthonous cases in Europe are mainly due to infection with Leishmania infantum, which causes zoonotic vis- ceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis. L. tropica, endemic only in Greece with a sporadic pattern, causes anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. Dogs are the main reservoir for L. infantum. Most reported cases have visceral leishma- niasis. A publication in 2008, in Emerging Infectious Diseases [1], estimated that annually around 700 new clinical cases of leishmaniasis are reported in European Union (EU) countries. Asymptomatic cases are thought to be many more, with an estimated ratio of >100 asymptomatic:1 clinical case [2]. Many of the EU countries where the disease is endemic are tourist destinations and there is evidence that a number of leishmaniasis cases diagnosed in non- endemic countries are imported from within the continent. The disease is notifiable in a number of endemic and non- endemic countries in Europe; however, surveillance varies and under-reporting appears to be frequent, especially for the benign forms of cutaneous leishmaniasis. The aim of the special issue is to contribute to the existing body of evidence and to make available data that can help paint a better picture of the epidemiological situation and burden of autochthonous leishmaniasis in Europe. We invite interested scientists and public health experts to share their surveillance data, findings and views and submit original papers for peer review and possible publication. -
Schooling During COVID-19
Schooling during COVID-19 Recommendations from the European Technical Advisory Group for schooling during COVID-19 March 2021 ABSTRACT These recommendations from the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic of the WHO Regional Office for Europe represent the work of the TAG between October 2020 and March 2021. The recommendations were considered at a WHO ministerial meeting on 8 December 2020, after which they were reviewed and updated. The recommendations are endorsed by the TAG to represent the best available evidence and expert advice on safe schooling. Keywords CHILD SCHOOL COVID-19 SARS-COV-2 SCHOOL TEACHER INFECTION CONTROL WHO/EURO:2021-2151-41906-57497 © World Health Organization 2021 Some rights reserved. This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo). Under the terms of this licence, you may copy, redistribute and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided the work is appropriately cited, as indicated below. In any use of this work, there should be no sugges- tion that WHO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. If you adapt the work, then you must license your work under the same or equivalent Creative Commons licence. If you create a translation of this work, you should add the following disclaimer along with the suggested citation: “This translation was not created by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this translation. -
Sweden and Coronavirus: Unexceptional Exceptionalism
social sciences $€ £ ¥ Article Sweden and Coronavirus: Unexceptional Exceptionalism Staffan Andersson 1,* and Nicholas Aylott 2 1 Department of Political Science, Linnaeus University, SE-351 95 Växjö, Sweden 2 School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, SE-141 89 Stockholm, Sweden; [email protected] * Correspondence: staff[email protected] Received: 19 November 2020; Accepted: 10 December 2020; Published: 15 December 2020 Abstract: The aims of this article are, first, to describe the Swedish authorities’ strategy for dealing with the sudden onset of novel coronavirus in early 2020 and, second, to explain why that strategy differed markedly from those in nearly all other European countries. From an early stage, the Swedish government delegated decision making to the Public Health Agency, and its goal was to mitigate the effects of the virus rather than to suppress its spread. Society was never closed down in the same way as elsewhere. Using data from media reports and other publications, we argue that the agency was insulated from pressure to change course, even as the number of deaths associated with covid-19 rose far above those in Sweden’s Nordic neighbours, by four conditions: (1) the structure of national public administration; (2) an outburst of nationalism in parts of the media; (3) the uneven impact of the virus; and (4) a political leadership that was willing to delegate responsibility for policy almost entirely. We conclude by briefly comparing the coronavirus strategy to previous episodes of Swedish policy exceptionalism. This emerging pattern, we suggest, raises normative questions about the functioning of Swedish democracy. Keywords: Sweden; coronavirus; strategy; mitigation; media; public administration; delegation; nationalism; leadership; democracy 1. -
1/4/21 Summary Corona Virus Update by H. Robert Silverstein, MD, FACC for the Preventive Medicine Center
1/4/21 Summary Corona Virus Update by H. Robert Silverstein, MD, FACC for the Preventive Medicine Center Clyde W. Yancy, MD, Vice Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Chief of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago Clyde W. Yancy, MD: “I’m exhausted by the stress; disheartened by the toll on human life; concerned deeply about the exposure to healthcare workers- BUT, I am emboldened by the display of courage, selflessness, compassion, and sacrifice that I see in physicians, nurses and health care workers across the country.” History, precedents, similarities, virus structure and invasion, pathology, physiology, lethality vs safety in perspective, China, geography, EU vs USA comparison, time-line, media, politics, pandemic modelling, symptoms, lockdown, economics, joblessness, vascular-platelet-glycocalyx clotting, testing, ventilators, medications, vaccines, supplements, diet: This 2019 corona virus CoV2-19 is an entirely new RNA virus with 30 proteins. Corona viruses have the largest known viral genome. The RNA of a corona virus is single-stranded. The word “VIRUS” means “poison.” A human cell has 20,000 different proteins. Being an RNA virus, it is similar to hepatitis C; it is not a DNA virus like hepatitis B. There are 200 viruses that can cause the common cold and several of these are corona viruses. “Corona” is Latin for “crown” which is how the virus looks in the microscope as if it has an encircling crown. The specific CoV2-19 1 genetic RNA fact and its “SPIKE” projections will affect anti-viral treatment design and decisions. That virus spike binds to and fuses with host cells. -
Update on the Corona Pandemic in the Kingdom of Sweden June 14, 2021
Update on the Corona Pandemic in the Kingdom of Sweden June 14, 2021 As of today, the Swedish Public Health Authorities announced that 9 new deaths have been confirmed since statistics from Friday June 11, 2021, due to the Coronavirus. Since Covid-19 reached Sweden the total mortality rate is now 14,574 people. 1,083,456 people have been confirmed infected and 7,544 people have been cared for or are being cared for in the intensive care unit. Right now, people 171 are in the intensive care unit, according to the Swedish intensive care register. 6,151,465 vaccinations have been carried out. 4,084,788 people have received at least one dose and 2,066,677 have received two doses. At 10.15 on Friday June 11, 2021, Minister of Social Affairs Lena Hallengren held a press conference on the topic of vaccines. Also participating where Johan Carlson, Director General of the Swedish Public Health Agency and Marie Morell, chair of Sweden's municipalities and the Regions' healthcare delegation. Hallengren begins the press conference with an updated overview of the vaccination work in Sweden. The Public Health Agency's forecast of when all Swedes should have been offered at least one dose of vaccine remains unchanged, she states. Within a few days, half of all adults will receive at least one dose. There are still large differences in the proportion vaccinated among foreign-born and among those born in Sweden. However, the differences have diminished. The government has decided to lend 31,200 Janssen doses to Cyprus and 24,000 doses to Iceland. -
A Comparative Analysis of Policy Approaches to COVID-19 Around the World, with Recommendations for U.S
SPECIAL REPORT NO. 234 | JULY 20, 2020 A Comparative Analysis of Policy Approaches to COVID-19 Around the World, with Recommendations for U.S. Lawmakers Kevin D. Dayaratna, PhD, Patrick Tyrrell, and Andrew Vanderplas A Comparative Analysis of Policy Approaches to COVID-19 Around the World, with Recommendations for U.S. Lawmakers Kevin D. Dayaratna, PhD, Patrick Tyrrell, and Andrew Vanderplas SPECIAL REPORT No. 234 | JULY 20, 2020 II A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF POLICY APPROACHES TO COVID-19 AROUND THE WORLD, WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR U.S. LAWMAKERS About the Authors Kevin D. Dayaratna, PhD, is Principal Statistician, Data Scientist, and Research Fellow in the Center for Data Analysis, of the Institute for Economic Freedom, at The Heritage Foundation. Patrick Tyrrell is Research Coordinator in the Center for International Trade and Economics, of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, at The Heritage Foundation. Andrew Vanderplas is Special Assistant and Research Associate for the Project for Economic Growth, of the Institute for Economic Freedom. This paper, in its entirety, can be found at http://report.heritage.org/sr234 The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE | Washington, DC 20002 | (202) 546-4400 | heritage.org Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress. SPECIAL REPORT | No. 234 JULY 20, 2020 | 1 heritage.org A Comparative Analysis of Policy Approaches to COVID-19 Around the World, with Recommendations for U.S. Lawmakers Kevin D. Dayaratna, PhD, Patrick Tyrrell, and Andrew Vanderplas ince COVID-19 became a global pandemic in March 2020, countries around the world have taken various approaches to contain the prolif- S eration of the virus. -
Swedish Government and Country Image During the International Media Coverage of the Coronavirus Pandemic Strategy: from Bold to Pariah
Article Swedish Government and Country Image during the International Media Coverage of the Coronavirus Pandemic Strategy: From Bold to Pariah Greg Simons 1,2,3 1 Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies (IRES), Uppsala University, 753 20 Uppsala, Sweden; [email protected] 2 Department of Communication Sciences, Turiba University, LV-1058 Riga, Latvia 3 Ural Institute of Humanities, Ural Federal University, 620002 Yekaterinburg, Russia Received: 28 September 2020; Accepted: 9 November 2020; Published: 12 November 2020 Abstract: The Coronavirus pandemic has caused a great deal of disruption and fear for countries and peoples around the globe. It has spread in a seemingly unstoppable manner, which has created a global crisis in terms of strategies to mitigate its effects, and how these strategies are communicated is vital to the credibility and legitimacy of those relevant actors. This paper examines and analyses how the Swedish government attempted to frame its pandemic strategy in the international mass media as a successful example of the ‘Swedish model’. Initially, this was successful and those frames seemed to be accepted; however, this soon changed and instead of serving as an example to emulate it became a model to avoid. Using hegemony theory and indexing theory, this paper attempts to explain how and why this change occurred. The change in the coverage becomes apparent as the Swedish government’s coronavirus policy and strategy of Sweden begins to increasingly diverge from the global orthodoxy of other countries, including the United Kingdom. Therefore, the politics of crisis management among the political elite begin to diverge and the politics of crisis management creates a more hostile and critical environment. -
Ultrametric Model for Covid-19 Dynamics: an Attempt to Explain
Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 3 July 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202007.0037.v1 1 Ultrametric model for covid-19 dynamics: an 2 attempt to explain slow approaching herd 3 immunity in Sweden 4 Andrei Khrennikov Linnaeus University, International Center for Mathematical Modeling in Physics and Cognitive Sciences V¨axj¨o,SE-351 95, Sweden 5 July 2, 2020 6 Abstract 7 We present a model of infection dynamics that might explain slower 8 approaching the herd immunity during the covid-19 epidemy in Swe- 9 den than it was predicted by a variety of other models; see graphs Fig. 10 2. The new model takes into account the hierarchic structure of social 11 clusters in the human society. We apply the well developed theory 12 of random walk on the energy landscapes represented mathematically 13 with ultrametric spaces. This theory was created for applications to 14 spin glasses and protein dynamics. To move from one social cluster 15 (valley) to another, the virus should cross a social barrier between 16 them. The magnitude of a barrier depends on the number of social 17 hierarchy's levels composing this barrier. As the most appropriate 18 for the recent situation in Sweden, we consider linearly increasing 19 (with respect to hierarchy's levels) barriers. This structure of barriers 20 matches with a rather soft regulations imposed in Sweden in March 21 2020. In this model, the infection spreads rather easily inside a so- 22 cial cluster (say working collective), but jumps to other clusters are 23 constrained by social barriers.