It was this weekend that Sörmlands Media told that the municipalities in the county refused to disclose information about the number of coronas infected in the elderly care.

When SVT Sörmland asks the municipal directors why they refused to tell us about the number of infected persons in elderly care, many people say that this information was not compiled in the municipality.

- We have not compiled a total compilation of the number of infected or suspected infected persons, writes Håkan Bergsten, municipal director in Flen, in an e-mail to SVT Sörmland.

The Trade Union Council is critical of that explanation.

- The Work Environment Act says that the safety representative, together with the employer, must assess each workplace's risk. Then you need to know how many infected people you have. From one day to the other. And if it is done now, you should know in the municipality how many people are infected, says Catarina Eriksson.

Linköping chose transparency

Another reason why the municipalities chose not to disclose the task has been patient privacy.

- If we had had the compilation, we probably would not have disclosed this information for the sake of patient confidentiality, writes Johan Persson, municipal director in Oxelösund.

This motivation is also criticized by the Municipal Council.

- It is a bit strange that you go out and talk about confidentiality when you are open with the numbers in Linköping municipality. After all, you do not report the individuals but the number and with that information you can reduce the anxiety and also prevent the work regarding the protective equipment, says Catarina Eriksson.

But many municipalities in Sörmland are small. Isn't there a risk of someone hanging out?

- I don't understand that reasoning. After all, there are not only two people living in one dwelling.

Employees afraid of the infection

According to Kommunal, the municipalities' actions create concerns when choosing to hide information that the public should be aware of.

- I have also heard signals that hourly workers do not want to go to elderly homes where there may be infection because they do not know what it looks like, says Catarina Eriksson and continues:

- The municipalities do not care that staff give their entire life and health to care for the caregivers when they do not report the number of infected. It shows no respect for the work the staff does.