When the men's national team had its digital press conference on Monday, the second testing round of covid-19 took place in parallel since the squad gathered in Eskilstuna last Saturday.
That the World Cup, despite the corona pandemic, will be played with 32 teams in Egypt, January 13-31, is a bit strange, Daniel Jerrhag thinks.
- But my conditions here are that I am a doctor in the national team.
We have judged that since the tournament is to be carried out, it is for us to ensure that it can be carried out safely for players and leaders, he says.
- It is with this attitude that I enter into this.
And there I think we have done a good job, I feel safe to go.
The Swedish game engine Jim Gottfridsson, one of several players who expresses himself diplomatically about the World Cup being played, also feels safe.
- I'm probably a little intermediate milk.
I can understand if you put question marks to play the World Cup in Egypt during the current pandemic.
But we are often tested and are extreme in keeping our rules, so in that way I think it feels very safe.
Otherwise I would not have gone, says "Gotte".
All players in the squad tested negative in the first round, when they went into the "bubble" that lasts until the World Cup is over.
But Daniel Jerrhag and the national team can not breathe a sigh of relief.
This week - when Sweden qualifies for the European Championships against Montenegro in Podgorica and Eskilstuna - can be a thriller.
- This is a key week.
Since the incubation period is up to 14 days, you can have a player who falls ill late.
Then it will be difficult.
As long as everyone is negative, everything is peace and joy, but the moment we get a pacifier somewhere, it becomes very messy, says Jerrhag.
Difficult situation
Next week, Hampus Wanne (whose girlfriend tested positive for corona) and Albin Lagergren (foot injured) are also expected to join Sweden's squad before leaving for Egypt.
TT: That sounds a bit difficult considering what you said about the incubation period of 14 days?
- Yes it does.
But they, like the others, know about the problem, so we are working on it.
This is something that we encounter and wet all the time, how we can do it as safely as possible from a covid point of view, says Daniel Jerrhag.
Sweden travels with chartered flights both to the European Championship qualifiers in Montenegro and to the World Cup in Egypt.
The hope is that Blågult will make it all the way to the hotel in Cairo without anyone having tested positive.
- I consider the risk of infection during the World Cup to be very low, significantly lower than moving here at home or in Germany, or where you now belong, says the national team doctor.
Audience plans
The World Cup organizers plan to let in a limited number of spectators in the stands.
Denmark's star Mikkel Hansen has said that he is considering boycotting the tournament if that happens.
Daniel Jerrhag:
- The IHF (International Handball Federation) has guaranteed that the ventilation system in the arenas is good enough to handle it, and there will be a safety space so that we who are in the bubble are at a safe distance from the audience.
I do not know exactly to what extent the audience will come in, other than that it should be limited and that the bubble should be secured.