US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — Data from the Swedish State Social Protection Administration indicates that there are more deaths from covid-19 than the Public Health Authority claims.
When the State Department of Social Protection analyzed the statistics on the causes of death of citizens, it found that there were more deaths from covid-19 than the Public Health Department reports. This was revealed on Monday at a press conference on the course of the pandemic in Sweden.
“We found that they were about 10% more than what has been reported so far in the reports of the Public Health Department,” said Mona Herngren, head of department at the State Department of Social Security.
“Ten percent is a pretty big increase in the number of deaths previously reported by the Public Health Office.” Why did the number increase?
Mona Heurgren: The big difference is that we also took into account cases when laboratory tests were not carried out, but the responsible doctor recorded covid-19 in the patient.
Big lag
In Sweden, the State Social Protection Board is responsible for the official statistics on health and social care. But since the causes of death are reported in accordance with special rules and must be encoded in accordance with WHO regulations, the department has three weeks to send a certificate of cause of death. So it takes a long time before the numbers become available.
Now management has begun to publish death statistics from covid-19 on its website. It found that the causes of death associated with coronavirus were recorded in approximately 1.7 thousand cases. Approximately 90% of those who died were over 70 years old, only 1% – less than 50. About half of all the dead lived in Stockholm and its suburbs. Most were at risk for one or more of the known characteristics.
“The analysis suggests that there were about 10% more deaths than the Public Health Office announced. Otherwise, the statistics of the Public Health Department are generally true. I mean, it correctly reflects who exactly suffered the most in terms of age, gender and related diseases. But as for the number of deaths from covid-19 today, then we split up,” says Mona Herngren.
There is always some difference
Anders Wallensten, deputy chief epidemiologist at the Public Health Department, points out that the results are always slightly different with different methods of data collection.
“One way is to take the total number of deaths and compare it with excess mortality. Thus, it may be possible to fix cases when a person was not even diagnosed. We will receive various reliable data as the situation develops.”
The most important thing, says Wallensten, is to constantly publish situation reports so that later you can analyze data for a longer period.
Actual statistics
According to today’s statistics from the Public Health Administration, a total of 2,274 people have died from covid-19 in Sweden at the moment. Over the past day, 80 people have died. Updated data indicate that a total of 18,640 people are infected with coronavirus in Sweden.
Wallensten stresses that the numbers are likely to increase further when more complete data are available on the deceased on the weekend.
“The data for the last days are incomplete, as usually happens after the weekend. So in the near future we will see how they will be adjusted,” he says.
In total, almost three million cases of infection are registered in the world. About 200 thousand people died.
Intensive therapy
The number of patients admitted to the intensive care unit due to covid-19 is 1,353. Right now there are 543 patients in the intensive care units.
“Today, according to our data, there are 1,073 free places in intensive care units in the country,” says Johanna Sandwall, head of the crisis preparedness department at the State Social Security Administration.
The burden on the country’s health system is still very unevenly distributed. Therefore, work is underway to distribute patients between regions.
“With regard to protective equipment, in some regions the situation is still critical.”
Most lacking are protective suits, says Sandwall.
To hold out for a long time is the main task
The Emergency Management Department, together with the Kantar Sifo Opinion Research Center, has been using surveys for a long time to study how people behave during the coronavirus epidemic.
“The hardest thing for everyone is to stay in this mode for a long time, which is why it is so important to study people’s attitudes to the situation,” explains Svante Werger, special adviser to the Emergency Management Department.
People are primarily concerned about finances, as the study shows.
“This was the case during the entire period covered by the study, that is, a month,” says Verger.
Many worry that unemployment will rise, and that enterprises will begin to have serious problems.
“Many are worried about the future of the welfare system.”
It is also troubling that the health system may not cope with the situation, the data collected indicate.
However, by the end of the study, the population’s anxiety was somewhat reduced, says Svante Verger.
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