The Stockholm Regional Board has made a unanimous decision to request from Sweden's municipalities and regions (SKR) to activate crisis situation agreements. This was announced by Finance Region Council Irene Svenonius (M) during a press conference on Thursday evening.

- This is a unique measure, because we are in the middle of a huge pandemic and are seeing a growing number of patients every day in our hospitals. We are expanding IVA capacity significantly in the county and need staff to staff all the IVA sites we need to save lives during the corona pandemic, ”she says.

Receives 220 percent of salary

The health care association has previously demanded that the agreement be activated. For the healthcare staff, this means that working hours will be 48 hours per week for a maximum of one month and that resources can be redistributed more easily. In exchange, the staff receive 220 percent of the salary per hour.

- It is also incredibly important that we recruit more colleagues who can help below the peak we expect within a few weeks, says Svenonius.

"An almost unimaginable number"

Another 30 people in Stockholm with confirmed covid-19 have died and thus the number of dead has increased to 179.

"It is an almost unimaginable figure," says Health and Medical Director Björn Eriksson during the press conference.

Björn Eriksson says he immediately asked staff at the field hospital in Älvsjö to receive patients. It is hoped that the first patients will be able to receive this weekend.

- They will open gradually and in the first phase have 140 patients, which can be increased further to 600 patients. We look at the possibilities of being able to increase even more than that.