Warning Association Warning: Then things go really, really badly

As late as Monday, the Health Association chairman Sineva Ribeiro received reports of "high and difficult" sick leave numbers at the union's local departments.

- If you have symptoms of the flu, you should not be at work for 16 days. Since we do not test everyone, we do not know if it is a corona but I do not think that will hold. I think you will need to test your healthcare staff for those who are not infected by Covid-19 will need to go to work. We can't afford anything else, she tells SVT News.

At present, the members of the Health Care Association are, above all, concerned about the ambiguity regarding protective equipment, says Sineva Ribeiro.

- This is about security when you go to work. Then you cannot have 21 regions and 290 municipalities that handle this issue in different ways. This cannot be a decision up to the Head of Operations but must be based on evidence and research. That's the big worry, she says, and continues:

- It's not just about being sick yourself but being able to infect patients in the hospital who may be there and have a lower immune system and feel quite ill from other diseases than corona. We can't get the infection into our hospitals because then things are going really, really bad.

According to Sineva Ribeiro, members of the Health Care Association testify that they are allowed to work double passes (16 hours) without break. She has also received signals that there is no talk of a holiday this summer.

- Our members will need their vacation after this. If we are to be able to have good quality health care in Sweden even after this crisis, we need to ensure that our members get their free time.

You have ongoing contact Healthcare associations all over the world, what message do you get from them?

- Countries such as China, Taiwan and Italy where the virus was no longer are urging us to really protect the staff so that we do not end up in the same situation as they have done. Mental ill health will increase and you are afraid of gigantic sick leave numbers.

At a press conference on Friday, Johanna Sandwall, crisis management manager at the National Board of Health, announced that a recent agreement has been signed on 200 respirators and 2,000,000 respiratory masks that will travel to the regions within the next few months.

- We work on two lines. One is to complement the regions' efforts to ensure access to protective material. The second is about coordination and support to the regions for the transition of intensive care and the creation of more care places, she says.

On Tuesday, the regions agreed on new guidelines for protective equipment. These do not include mouthguards, according to TT.