Isolating the elderly has been an important part of Sweden's strategy against the corona center. But loneliness can also lead to health problems, and the Public Health Authority is now reviewing its recommendations to the 70-plus.

"We have lived with this situation for two months, but we cannot live with it for six months," says Johan Carlson, director general of the Public Health Authority.

"Loneliness Can Increase Mortality"

Elderly researcher Ingmar Skoog at the Center for Aging Health, says that isolation is dangerous for both mental and physical health.

- Loneliness can increase mortality, especially in cardiovascular disease. It is the feeling of loneliness that is very painful. You also become more sedentary, and can get blood clots, he says in Agenda.

Bundle everyone up

He also sees a problem in the fact that all 70-plus people have been bundled into a fragile group, and that is something the Public Health Authority is reviewing.

- We hope to be able to find younger 70-plus people who are not at all a risk group and remove them from the restrictions, says Johan Carlson, Director General of the Public Health Authority.

He can't promise when the new recommendations will come, but hopes it will happen in time for the summer vacation. It depends on what you find in the material that comes in and if you can identify some groups among the elderly who do not belong to any particular risk group.

"She wants to meet her only son"

The 86-year-old Member of Parliament Barbro Westerholm (L) believes that restrictions on the elderly should also be reviewed.

- I talked to a 90-year-old lady who wants to meet her only son, but she doesn't get it. However, she meets a dozen home service people. She can't see the logic, says Barbro Westerholm in Agenda.

Johan Carlson says he hopes the antibody tests will be able to help in these cases by being able to see if a close relative has already had the virus and then poses a lesser risk. He also thinks that as an individual you will have to make your own choices in some cases.

- As long as we live with this virus, which will be a long time, it will be a higher risk of being older, especially the elderly. We must discuss whether this is a risk not worth taking. I think many older people would do that, he says.