Sweden: the king recognizes the failure of the strategy to fight against Covid-19
Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (illustrative image).
AP - Manish Swarup
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The epidemic is also wavering governments, as in Sweden.
On Wednesday morning, the press of the Nordic kingdom revealed that the King of Sweden, in an address which will be broadcast soon on television, describes the management of the crisis as a failure.
A rare comment in this country where sovereigns generally observe strict neutrality.
Publicity
Read more
With our correspondent in Stockholm,
Frédéric Faux
On Wednesday morning, the Swedes woke up to hearing these disturbing words: “
I think we have failed.
There are a large number of them who have died and it is terrible.
It is something from which we all suffer
”, declared the king in an address which will be broadcast soon but made public by the press.
The second wave of the coronavirus is rocking the Swedish authorities dangerously.
There is this admission of the King of Sweden, unusual in a country where sovereigns generally observe strict neutrality.
But also his government allies who threaten to leave the ship, or this expert report published Tuesday, December 15 which is cutting to pieces the management of the health crisis.
According to his conclusions, the strategy of protecting the elderly, which was nevertheless displayed as a priority, has failed.
In fact, 90% of the
7,800 deaths from Covid-19 are over 70 years old
.
The Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Löfven is blamed, like the Health Agency, which is responsible for the policy to fight against the epidemic.
Nothing seems done to reverse the trend
But what worries the Swedes the most is that nothing seems done to reverse the trend.
The level of mortality is still ten times higher than in Finland and Norway, five times higher than in Denmark.
As for the famous Swedish strategy
based on simple recommendations
, without compulsory closings of shops, without quarantine, without wearing a mask, it also shows its limits.
To be able to shut down restaurants and stores by authority, or impose a lockdown, Swedish parliamentarians must pass an emergency law.
But this could not come into force until mid-March ...
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Sweden
Coronavirus
Health and medicine