The situation in healthcare in Italy, which is the worst affected country in Europe by the corona virus, is completely different compared to Sweden. This is the opinion of state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.
- You were very unprepared, and it took a long time to discover what was happening. Here we have a completely different situation - we are very well prepared, he says.
However, something that has been in demand in Sweden is more tests for the corona virus. But it is a complicated chain to do more tests, according to Anders Tegnell. By contrast, the test chain, from the time the coronavirus test is made to reaching the lab and getting test answers, is slowly but surely better.
- The lab capacity is there, more tests can be done. We are looking at how to test themselves, so that, above all, personnel do not need to have anyone else with protective equipment with them when taking the samples, says Anders Tegnell.
How far is it?
- It's in place. We are starting to use it already now, says Tegnell.
"Keeping a better staffing position"In concrete terms, there are several positive consequences that healthcare professionals can test themselves and find out if they are infected by the corona virus right now.
- Health care knows if it can continue to work and then you can maintain a much better staffing situation. It increases the safety of patients and staff, he says.
In the future, respiratory protection is the single most important thing for healthcare professionals in the fight against the corona virus, according to Tegnell.
- The signal in the current state of health care is that there is enough protection for the staff, he says.
See more of the interview with Anders Tegnell in the clip above.