Update on the Corona Pandemic in the Kingdom of Sweden October 27, 2020 As of today, the Swedish Public Health Authorities announced that – 15 new deaths have been confirmed within the last 24 hours due to the Coronavirus. Since Covid-19 reached Sweden the total mortality rate is now 5 918 people. 115 758 people have been confirmed infected and 2 683 people are in intensive care. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns that far too many countries are seeing an exponential increase in the number of new covid-19 cases. “We urge leaders to take immediate action to prevent more unnecessary deaths,” he says. Colombia, Spain, Argentina and France are the latest countries to pass one million cases of confirmed infection, according to Johns Hopkins University. In total, more than 42 million people in the world have been infected. The spread of covid-19 has increased in Uppsala County. At the same time, residents with corona symptoms have had difficulty finding time for sampling, as the laboratory has not had time for all the tests, reports SVT Nyheter Uppsala. Now the laboratory capacity will be doubled, states SVT. The Uppsala Region has made an agreement with the Swedish Public Health Agency to analyze covid tests in a laboratory in Stockholm, starting next week. At present, the region analyzes about 5,000 samples a week. The lab in Stockholm will eventually be able to analyze around 4,000 samples a week. Johan Lindh, head of the section for clinical microbiology at the University Hospital in Uppsala, also promises more efficiency on site in Uppsala. We try to develop the methods so that a robot increasingly does the staff's job. At the same time, we are recruiting new staff, says Johan Lindh to SVT. Due to the infection in Uppsala, local general councils have been introduced. Residents are urged to avoid public transport and physical contact with people other than those with whom they live. Sweden currently has a good reserve of the covid drug remdesivir. But the recent spread of infection has made Uppsala, in particular, call for more. “We have had to sharpen the indications for who should get it for it to be enough,” says Fredrik Sund, operations manager for the infection clinic at the University Hospital in Uppsala. 1 The preparation shortens the hospital stay for covid patients with oxygen supplements and in the National Board of Health and Welfare's forecast from this summer, 70,000 doses are needed from September to February. Now Sweden has only received around 3,000 so far, which is enough for about 500 patients. And so many doses have not been used, says Maria State, who is head of the National Board of Health and Welfare's drug office. “The forecast was incorrect. We have not received as many cases so far as the forecast expected, but it is possible that we have a time lag in the number of cases,” she says. The Swedish reserve is divided between the regions based on population and at present the supply varies, according to Maria Landgren who is head of pharmaceuticals at Region Skåne, which is responsible for the national distribution of the drug. “In some places there is quite a lot left and in others it runs out,” she says. “Uppsala is very keen to order quickly and get new doses this week. This is above all where it starts to end,” she continues. The Uppsala region has recently seen more and more covid cases in hospitals. “Due to the limited supply, this has meant more discussions about which patients should receive remdesivir. We start treatment on about ten patients every week,” says infection manager Fredrik Sund. But Maria Landgren believes that no region will be completely without belt dives, even if hospital cases are now increasing. There is more to order. The corona pandemic has led to a sharp reduction in the number of operations, reports TV4 Nyheterna. 75,000 fewer operations were performed in Sweden during mid-March until now, compared with the same period last year. The canceled operations have meant that the waiting times are now long, with 144,000 people in the operating queue, which is 30,000 more than before the pandemic. “It's very serious. It is a great patient suffering. And despite the fact that we make every effort to use the resources we have, we will probably have to get used to a period with longer waiting times,” says Gunnar Enlund, chief physician at the University Hospital and deputy head of Sweden's perioperative register to TV4 Nyheterna. The surgeries that have decreased the most in number are knee joint surgeries, cataracts and hip replacement surgeries. From November 1, cultural and sports organizers may receive 300 people in the audience, provided that the groups of no more than two people are at least one meter away from the next party, since the government recently eased the rules. But the County Administrative Board in Skåne is discussing whether the border should be maintained at the local level. “We always follow the infection control recommendations. With that said, we are a little concerned that the number of hospital admissions has increased quite markedly in Skåne in recent days, even in the intensive care units, more places have been used in a relatively short time,” says county director Ola Melin. Melin points out that a decision has not yet been made, which may come at the end of next week, and that it is the region's infection control doctors who have the decisive competence in the matter. “I have the greatest understanding of the situation of the poor organizers. I personally think it is extremely sad not to be able to go to a concert or match,” says Melin. 2 “Then I can understand from a Skåne perspective that many people think it is illogical that a restaurant on Lilla torg in Malmö can have 100 guests who hang out and have fun and are very close to each other, and that the theater next door cannot have more than 50 in a salon. I agree with that, it is basically about us having different legislation for one or the other,” Melin continues. Created by: Crisis Committee Monitoring and Taking the Required Procedures Regarding Coronavirus in Accredited Countries by the Embassy of Libya - Sweden Stockholm: October 27, 2020 3 .