More than half of the elderly who have died in covid-19 have lived in elderly homes. MP Désirée Pethrus (KD) believes that the death toll may have been affected by staff lacking oral protection.

- I think this is one of the reasons for the high death rates we have now, she tells SVT.

She has responded to SVT's revelations about how the Swedish Work Environment Authority has backed the requirement for oral protection, and will on Monday raise the issue in a debate with Labor Minister Eva Nordmark (S).

- This applies to both the staff and the elderly. If you think about the staff, you also protect the elderly.

- If you think about the staff, you also protect the elderly, says Désirée Pethrus (KD). Photo: Parliament

Désirée Pethrus responds to the fact that several parties have acted behind the scenes to get the Work Environment Authority to withdraw from the harsh oral protection requirement on Serafens retirement homes.

- It is very irresponsible to try to hide something that is about people's lives and health. It is so obvious that here you have to be at the forefront, you cannot just pretend that things will resolve.

"Then our whole society falters"

And Désirée Pethrus is not alone in wanting to find out what happened.

Liberals spokesperson Lina Nordqvist writes to SVT that she is not the right person to decide which protective material to protect. “However, I can say that I expect total transparency towards the citizens throughout this soup. It is regulated by law that Swedish authorities must be factual and impartial. If confidence in our authorities is disrupted, then our entire society falters. ”

Both Anders W Johansson (C) and Kristina Nilsson (S) write in comments to SVT that they want to investigate the failure of society with the protection of the elderly.

Even after SVT's first disclosure, the Swedish Democrats and the Left Party reacted to how the municipalities' organization SKR acted.

- Did they lower the requirements because they did not want to lose face because they were not prepared? asked Henrik Vinge (SD).

V and SD have requested a special parliamentary debate on measures to prevent the spread of infection in elderly care. It will be held in a week, on Friday, May 29. There, the government is represented by Social Minister Lena Hallengren (S), whose employees were kept informed of SKR's meeting with the authorities after the protection stop at Serafen, and also wanted to be present at the meeting.

See SVT's review of the oral protection battle here.