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Sweden launches investigation into coronavirus response

Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced the inquiry at a press conference yesterday - TT NEWS AGENCY/via REUTERS
Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced the inquiry at a press conference yesterday - TT NEWS AGENCY/via REUTERS

Sweden has launched a commission to investigate the shortcomings that have led to the country having one of the highest coronavirus death rates in Europe - although it will not report on whether the country should have imposed a stricter lockdown until the end of next year at the earliest.

"Thousands of people have died and many more are naturally in mourning," Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said as he announced the inquiry at a press conference on Tuesday.

"This crisis has put the shortcomings of our society under the spotlight," he said. "The question is not whether Sweden is going to be changed by this, but how."

The establishment of the commission is a victory for Sweden's opposition Moderate Party which teamed up with the centre-Right Liberal and Centre parties to force the government to shelve its plans to include politicians on the committee and have it report only after the 2022 election.

"We wanted to get the commission started as quickly as possible in order to be able to follow what decisions were being taken in real-time," Ulf Kristersson, the leader of the Moderate Party, told Sweden's state broadcaster SVT.

Sweden resisted a hard lockdown, choosing instead to ask people to follow social distancing guidelines - Johan Nilsson/TT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/ Shutterstock
Sweden resisted a hard lockdown, choosing instead to ask people to follow social distancing guidelines - Johan Nilsson/TT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/ Shutterstock

However, the committee's first interim report, which is due to be delivered on November 30th, will focus solely on the spread of coronavirus within the elderly care sector.

Anders Tegnell, Sweden's state epidemiologist, has repeatedly placed the blame for Sweden's death rate on failings within the elderly care system rather than on the wider strategy.

The country's death toll stands at 528 per million, five times that of  Denmark and just behind that of Italy.

A broader analysis of the country's strategy, the actions and structure of central, regional and municipal government, and the various health agencies, will wait until later reports due in October 2021 and February 2022.

The committee has also been tasked with looking at the way responsibility is divided in Sweden between government and governmental agencies, and also between central, regional and municipal government.

State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has drawn international attention for his unique recommendations on handling the coronavirus outbreak - Magnus Andersson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock
State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has drawn international attention for his unique recommendations on handling the coronavirus outbreak - Magnus Andersson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock

In Sweden ministries traditionally concentrate on setting policy and issuing instructions, leaving the day-to-day running of the health, transport, education, and other areas to powerful independent agencies, such as the Public Health Agency of Sweden where Tegnell is employed.

Health and elderly care are also decentralized, with the healthcare run by the regions and elderly care by individual municipalities.

Mats Melin, the former president of Sweden’s supreme administrative court, has been appointed to lead the commission,

"My sense is that society's ability to deal with crises has increasingly come under question," he told the press conference via a video link. "It is an important job to be able to learn lessons and be better equipped for the next crisis, whether it's a pandemic or something else."

Sweden's neighbour Denmark last month appointed the politics professor Jørgen Grønnegård Christensen to lead an independent expert group which will look into how Denmark's government brought the country into its coronavirus lockdown.