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Swedish Disease Expert Calls WHO's COVID-19 Warning 'A Total Mistake'
By Bill Chappell of NPR. Excerpt:
"Swedish state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell says the World Health
Organization made "a total mistake" when it included Sweden in a list of
countries seeing a resurgence of the coronavirus. The WHO
misinterpreted the Swedish data, Tegnell said.
"It is a total mistake," Tegnell said, according to Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
Sweden
has been closely watched because of its controversial approach to the
COVID-19 pandemic. While the country has urged people to practice
physical distancing and follow other safety precautions, it has not
ordered a strict shutdown. While many of its European neighbors endured
three months of austere conditions, Sweden allowed most of its bars,
restaurants, schools and retail stores to remain open.
Tegnell's remarks were a retort to a warning from Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, who said on Thursday
that in Sweden and 10 other countries, "accelerated transmission has
led to very significant resurgence that if left unchecked will push
health systems to the brink once again in Europe."
Along with Sweden, the warning included countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Days before the WHO issued its warning, Sweden reported
1,699 new coronavirus cases — its biggest spike yet, according to data
from the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. So far this month, Sweden has set a new record for daily case numbers every week.
But
Tegnell objected to Kluge's warning, saying that WHO officials were
misinterpreting Sweden's epidemiological data. In Tegnell's view, the
rise in new cases is due to a recent bump in testing. He added that
Sweden is seeing a relatively low number of admissions to intensive care
units, along with a decline in COVID-19 deaths.
Swedish
officials had said earlier this year that the country was on course to
reach "herd immunity." A target date was set for the end of May, though
last month officials acknowledged that the country would not meet its
goal."
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