Sweden sees highest daily number of COVID cases since December https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-cases-idUSKBN2BH27G Sweden, which has rejected lockdowns throughout the pandemic, registered its highest number of new cases since the end of last year on Thursday amid what authorities said was flagging compliance with the mainly voluntary recommendations to curb the spread of the virus. Sweden is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 with a sharp rise in cases in recent weeks after a slowdown in January and February. The country, which hit the global spotlight with its soft-touch approach to fighting the virus, registered 7,706 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest since Dec. 30. “Unfortunately, the negative trend for infections continues, just as in many other countries in Europe now,” Chief Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told a news conference. The new variants of the virus, above all the one first identified in Britain, are seen contributing to the fresh wave of cases, but the Civil Contingencies Agency also said surveys showed compliance with rules and recommendations was declining. The country of 10 million inhabitants registered 16 new deaths, taking the total to 13,373. The health agency said deaths remained low for now, in part due to a large portion of the most vulnerable having been vaccinated. “We have reached good vaccination coverage in the most important places in society. Among those living in nursing homes, we can see that 93% have received one dose and 87% have received two doses,” Tegnell said. Sweden said on Thursday it would resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 65, after pausing last week following reports of rare blood clots in people vaccinated by the vaccine. [L8N2LN58C] Sweden’s death rate per capita is many times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours’ but lower than in several European countries that opted for lockdowns. A compilation of European excess mortality data on Wednesday showed Sweden had a lower increase in deaths than most European countries in 2020.
I've documented here in this thread and my personal blog outside of ET...the many outdoor and surprisingly indoor maskless protests. The indoor maskless protests are very problematic and I wouldn't be surprise its a contributing factor in the increase infections in the variants in both Sweden, France, Québec and South Korea... Some of these countries has even had indoor flash mobs in defiance of any restrictions. Also, I notice that many of the countries with the best Covid performances...they also are the countries with low vaccination participation. Yet, I think that's by design in that the world's vaccine makers are primarily getting their vaccines to the countries being hit the hardest (poor Covid performances). The exception is Brazil...it has one of the worst performances but is lagging in its vaccination. Regardless, the Scandinavian countries are leading the way in their vaccinations with the exception of the world top vaccination countries (Israel and United States). wrbtrader
Sweden says will not meet vaccine target due to delay in deliveries: SVT By Reuters Staff STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden’s vaccine coordinator said on Sunday repeated delays of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries meant Sweden would not be able to meet the target of having all adults vaccinated by June 30. Sweden, which has rejected lockdowns throughout the pandemic, is rushing to get its population vaccinated amid a third wave of the pandemic. It registered its highest number of new cases since the end of last year on Thursday, although deaths remain at a relatively low level. [L8N2LN5H4] “It will take a bit longer before everyone is fully vaccinated, but maybe five million people will be fully vaccinated by the end of the first half of the year, June 30,” vaccine coordinator Richard Bergstrom told Swedish Television. “It will take maybe a couple of weeks into July before everyone has had two shots,” he said. Bergstrom did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sweden, with a total population of 10 million, has so far vaccinated over a million people with one dose and 450,000 people with two doses. The country has more than 13,000 deaths from COVID-19. Sweden’s death rate per capita is many times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours but lower than in several European countries that opted for lockdowns. A compilation of European excess mortality data on Wednesday showed Sweden had a lower increase in deaths than most European countries in 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-due-to-delay-in-deliveries-svt-idUSKBN2BK0DR ---------- wrbtrader
Hopefully the EU and the Scandinavian countries gets this resolved...sooner than later before the fall of 2021. Longer the delays...vaccine hesitancy increases and more protests by the anti-vaxxers especially after the recent questions involving the safety of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine. wrbtrader
Norway... Protection against COVID-19 seen among those vaccinated in Norway By NewsDesk @bactiman63 During the last five weeks, a sharp increase in transmission has been seen among most age groups in Norway, but not among the oldest who have the highest vaccination coverage, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay “This may be an early indication that the elderly have received protection after vaccination, although the effect of other infection control measures can also contribute to this result,” says Geir Bukholm, Director of the Division of Infection Control and Environmental Health. The first vaccine dose was given on 27 December 2020. Residents in nursing homes and the population over the age of 85 were the first to be offered vaccination in Norway. By week 11 in the over-85 year age group, 89 % have received at least the first vaccine dose and 81 % have received the second vaccine dose. In the 80-84 year age group, 83 % have been vaccinated with at least the first dose and 54 % with the second dose. Vaccination of people in the 75-84 age group is ongoing, so the proportion of people who are vaccinated is currently lower in this group. Norway will keep use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on hold as review continues “During the last five weeks, transmission has increased sharply again among most age groups in Norway, especially among the youngest. However, a similar pattern is not seen among either the over-85 or the 80-84 years age groups, who have the highest vaccination coverage. This may mean that vaccination is already helping to protect the groups at greatest risk of a severe disease course if they become infected, says Geir Bukholm. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely as more and more groups are offered a vaccine,” he adds. http://outbreaknewstoday.com/protec...-seen-among-those-vaccinated-in-norway-72730/ ---------- wrbtrader
More Swedes in intensive care as third COVID wave gathers pace https://www.yahoo.com/news/more-swedes-intensive-care-third-131030418.htmlhttps://www.yahoo.com/news/more-swedes-intensive-care-third-131030418.html
Not discussed at the above Yahoo link is if those (9% increase) have been younger adults being impacted by the variants of Covid... Similar to what has been occurring around the world. We'll know within a few more days when more details is released about the increasing hospitalizations in Sweden. I strongly suspect its the same in Sweden as what has been occurring elsewhere in the world with the variants of Covid... Just not sure if more younger adults are being hospitalized because the elderly are better protected / vaccinated or if younger adults are more careless considering there's an influx of people entering Sweden from other countries that went to Sweden to escape lockdowns / restrictions in their countries. wrbtrader
How many people died in Sweden from COVID in the last 7 days? \ 50? 60? Hell, you guys in North Carolina had more yesterday than Sweden did in a week or so. Right?