This year's Christmas celebrations are over and so far the infection control doctors can not see any downward trend in either the number of hospitalized or the number of infected.
In Kronoberg County, 63 people with covid-19 are currently being cared for in hospital and seven of them are receiving intensive care.
- Seven patients at IVA are on par with how many there were in the spring, but the number of inpatients is clearly more than in the spring.
We have crossed that line for a long time, says Christian Romin Blomkvist, infection control doctor in Kronoberg County.
Since the day before Christmas Eve until Monday, seven deaths have been reported in Kronoberg County and two in Kalmar County.
“Very worrying”
The day before Christmas Eve, the number of confirmed cases in Kronoberg County was 7,826. On 28 December, the number had risen to 8,283.
- The situation is still very worrying, we have many cases and many hospitalized.
New cases have also been found in Kalmar County, but it is not clear how many more can be answered.
All red days mean that the test results on the self-tests may take a while.
On Monday, the number of cases was 5,530.
- But there are worrying signs, a larger proportion are now becoming positive and we see a significantly higher burden on healthcare, says Per-Åke Jarnheimer, deputy infection control doctor in Kalmar County.
The impact of the Christmas celebration
According to the two infection control doctors, it is too early to say whether the Christmas celebrations have led to an increased or reduced spread of infection.
- It will probably be difficult to evaluate it.
It will take at least two weeks from now before we can say something for sure, says Per-Åke Jarnheimer.
"Behave as if you were contagious"
Above all, he has a piece of advice that he wants to give to everyone.
- We see that there are many who test positive even though they have no symptoms or have very mild symptoms.
Behave as if you were contagious, that's my most important piece of advice.