On Monday, Kronoberg Region was able to report that 18 patients in a medicine ward in Ljungby have been affected by covid-19, of which four have died. Even 15 of the staff at the department have been infected.

The investigation has not been able to show what caused the outbreak. Some possible causes, according to the region, may be high sick leave and high burden on staff.

SVT News Småland has requested anomalies linked to the corona virus written by the region's staff. There are several cases where patients with suspected covid-19 have been accidentally managed without protective equipment - or resided among other patients.

Events with affected department

Two events are linked to the affected department in Ljungby, although emergency and ambulance personnel have been most vulnerable:

  • A patient who has been admitted for pneumonia is tested negative for covid-19 and sent to a resident. There, the patient gets respiratory problems and is sent back to the hospital. Since the patient had had pneumonia earlier the week before, it is judged that the personnel in the emergency room do not need protective equipment - despite the fact that they do a treatment that gives rise to aerosols. The day after, the emergency department finds out that the patient in a new test was found to be positive for covid-19.

  • A multi-patient patient who was in the ward for a bacterial infection was sent back to a special accommodation. Two days later, the patient deteriorated and had to go to the hospital for suspected sepsis. Neither ambulance nor emergency personnel used protective equipment against covid-19, but after admission the patient was found to be infected.

SVT has applied for responsibility within the Kronoberg Region for a comment, without success.