The extremely high spread of covid-19 has caused sick leave and vomiting to skyrocket, but many healthy people are also forced to stay at home in household quarantine.

According to the Swedish Public Health Agency's recommendations, those who live with someone who has covid-19 must stay at home for seven days from the day the sick person was sampled.

Last week, more than 11,000 people applied for carrier allowance, a form of compensation that those who live with a person with covid and who are unable to work from home are entitled to.

Has limited effect

Magnus Gisslén, professor at the University of Gothenburg and chief physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, gives the impression of an explosive spread of covid-19 and believes that one must weigh the pros and cons of the restrictions against each other.

With such a high spread, it is difficult to see that restrictions in the form of family quarantine are of great importance, he says.

- Of course, it is the case that a household contact has an increased risk of becoming infected and can also carry the infection further, but at the same time it probably has a very limited effect on the whole.

You may be able to prevent some cases of infection, but it is a question of whether the benefit outweighs the negative consequences, he says.

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise wants to change the quarantine rules

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is also on the same track.

They have conducted a survey among their member companies which shows that seven out of ten companies believe that the rules with quarantine have a negative effect on their operations.

- It is necessary to change the quarantine rules, we currently have very many healthy people who are at home and who would be needed in the workplace, this is also noticeable in social criticism activities, says Jonas Frycklund, acting chief economist at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. 

Sven-Eric Söder is chairman of the Swedish Medical Ethics Council, which works with medical-ethical issues on behalf of the government.

He believes that an overall societal perspective is important when it comes to pandemic measures. 

- Now we have big challenges, but the overall goal is to reduce the spread of infection and save human lives, it is important not to lose that perspective, says Sven-Eric Söder. 

Impossible with general answer

He believes that it is impossible to give a general answer to what the balance is between, on the one hand, reducing the spread of covid-19 with the help of restrictions and, on the other hand, ensuring that socially important activities are not hit too hard by sick leave. 

- Everything that is done now during the pandemic has been done to reduce the spread of infection, save human lives and of course ensure that the pressure on healthcare does not become overwhelming.

If some measures prove to be counterproductive to maintain care, you simply have to look at it, he says.