Why does Norrbotten have such deaths in relation to the number of infected Norrbotten when compared to many other counties?
- It is true that Norrbotten, along with some other counties, is high in terms of the number of deceased in relation to the number of people infected.
- The simple explanation is that in Norrbotten, in principle, only those who have become seriously ill have been tested for coronavirus, which results in many deaths per positive test. The reason is that there has been a shortage of lab resources when the reagent we use in Sunderbyn ran out, which meant that we had to keep up with the sampling.
- We have now received more sampling equipment, which means that this week we will be able to start taking more samples on care staff and on elderly residents, both on users and staff. Later, when we receive additional sampling material, we will be able to try even more and then people who are at home in the cold.
Is it possible to say something about the age distribution of those who died in covid-19 in Norrbotten?
- I looked at exactly that last Wednesday and the average age of those who died in covid-19 in Norrbotten was then 82 years. Only two people under 70 had died.
Do you know how many have been declared well in Norrbotten?
- The absolute majority of those affected get sick and then they become healthy again, and naturally there are people who are discharged from the hospitals. It was only at the beginning of the epidemic that samples were taken on people to write them down.
How far have you come when it comes to increasing the number of intensive care units?
- We have a plan to increase the number of intensive care units to a further 25 and 35, in addition to the ones we usually have. But we are expanding on each other, ever since. It is insanely demanding staff with intensive care places. We always keep a margin in the number of places. When we see that we need to expand, we are hiring even more staff so that we can open more intensive care places.
- I think that the measures in Norrbotten came at a better time than in, say, Stockholm. In addition, we are sparsely populated. So I don't think we will have to get up to that level of 25 to 35 intensive care places that we talked about.