Sweden revises coronavirus strategy after elderly deaths spiral

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sweden will adjust a key corner of its strategy for dealing with Covid-19, after the death rate at care homes spiraled out of control, Bloomberg reports.

The government of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven plans to spend about 2.2 billion kronor ($220 million) on ratcheting up staff levels to help protect the country’s oldest citizens.

Another 2 billion kronor will go toward compensating local authorities for the extra costs they’ve incurred in dealing with the pandemic, the government said on Tuesday.

Like elsewhere, Sweden’s Covid-19 related deaths have disproportionately hit the elderly. But critics argue that many of those fatalities could have been avoided if the authorities had taken more steps to focus attention on the most vulnerable demographic.

Earlier this month, Sweden said prosecutors had started an investigation into the high death rate at a care home. Half of those over 70 years old who have died from Covid-19 in Sweden lived in nursing homes, according to national statistics at the end of April. As of Monday, the country had registered 3,256 Covid-19 related deaths.