Sept 2020. Johan Giesecke tells Ireland's Special Committee on Covid-19 Response that Sweden's strategy "could be effective in other countries as well".

"I believe Ireland should allow a controlled spread of the disease among people below 60 years."

🧵
oireachtas.ie/en/debates/deb… Giesecke asserted there had been "no difference at all" between the number of infected children in Sweden, which kept primary schools open, and Finland, which had distance learning.

He left out that Sweden didn't test children.

In spring 2020, when other countries closed all schools, Sweden kept primary schools open, with mandatory in-person attendance and without protective measures such as testing or quarantines.

Sweden then told the world COVID didn't spread in schools. It wasn't true. 🧵

https://twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1577490062178148352

Early March 2020: Some schools wanted to be cautious and closed when pupils tested positive, which upset Anders Tegnell. He insisted schools should stay open despite covid cases.

dn.se/nyheter/sverig…

I had covid in February at the same time with my schoolkids. One of those mild cases. A couple of days of fever, some days of dizziness, 10 days of testing positive. I haven't talked much about having had slight memory issues since, because as I predicted, people doubt it. It's like being in my memory storage and going to a drawer labelled "world-famous scientists", "constructions" or "Swedish fish", and then the name of the scientist, the term or the foreign word is not there anymore.

Sweden: Two weeks ago, it was announced that the state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell resigns the same week after having got a job as a senior expert at the WHO. It turns out this was news also to the WHO, as no such job exists. 🧵

omni.se/anders-tegnell…
svd.se/a/v5Knw5/tegne… Anders Tegnell two weeks ago: On Monday, I'll start the new job.

But Tegnell didn't start the new job on Monday. Instead, he's on holiday.

dn.se/sverige/anders…
svd.se/a/v5Knw5/tegne…

Sweden, covid and quality:

Sweden doesn't vaccinate 5-11-year-olds. One reason for it is inequality: not all families would vaccinate their children, so it's better no one does. With that logic, how can they vaccinate kids against anything? 🧵

Page 24: folkhalsomyndigheten.se/contentassets/…

https://twitter.com/annapersika/status/1489892288058863617

The decision leads to more inequality: those Swedish families who want to have their children vaccinated and have the means to do it, travel abroad to get them vaccinated.

Sweden: The government set a corona commission to evaluate the pandemic response, but denies them relevant documents. They claim there are no notes, minutes or logs whatsoever of 149 (!) government office meetings about the strategy.

Why the secrecy? 🧵

tt.omni.se/m-ska-pressa-h… svd.se/sa-drog-regeri…

Masks 😷 in Sweden 🇸🇪: a growing thread of news, arguments and observations. 🧵

https://twitter.com/VirpiFlyg/status/1468707677924728836

I've read on Twitter this week that Sweden's response hasn't represented national chauvinism, on the contrary, and that Swedes aren't nationalistic.

Here's a thread of what Sweden has been superior at during the pandemic, according to Sweden's Public Health Agency itself. 🧵 Anders Tegnell, March 2020: Sweden's (and Britain's) approach is more scientific.

aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/6j7v…

Sweden's state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell informing people on masks: how they are useless or even increase the risk of getting infected. Thread. 🧵 31 Jan 2020. Anders Tegnell answered the questions of SVT's readers: Don't buy masks - they don't protect you from getting infected.

svt.se/nyheter/inrike…

Sweden's state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, looked up to by many while being wrong about most, is answering questions in Expressen.

Is it risky for us to meet for Christmas?
- No, if no one has symptoms.

Do FFP2 masks _increase_ the risk of getting sick?
- Potentially yes. expressen.se/nyheter/anders…

Sweden & masks:

As from today, masks are recommended in Sweden in public transport if crowding cannot be avoided. From what I've heard, not many have followed the recommendation. No surprise, as masks have been undermined by the health authority during the whole pandemic. 🧵 It's not the first time Sweden recommends masks in public transport.

A year ago, Prof. Ludvigsson, a GBD signee close to the Public Health Agency, advised them to recommend masks before the government: The recommendation should be limited and they should say there's no evidence.

Today, Magdalena Andersson became Sweden’s new prime minister, after the former prime minister Stefan Löfven resigned two weeks ago. In the photo, the parliament looks like they know nothing about the pandemic. PM Löfven was at least as clueless. This thread is about him. 🧵 In June, Löfven had to resign after a defeat over housing market plans. In July, he was re-elected. "I take on this task with determination and respect", he said. In August, he announced his resignation: "Everything has an end."

thelocal.se/20210707/swede…
politico.eu/article/swedis…

Sweden's pandemic response is led by the government and the Public Health Agency. During the pandemic, Stefan Löfven has been the prime minister and Johan Carlson the director of the Public Health Agency. Carlson has now suddenly retired and Löfven is retiring. 🧵 In June 2021, Löfven lost a vote of no confidence (not corona-related, surprisingly) but was later reappointed. In August, less than two months later, he announced he would resign. "Everything comes to an end, and I want to give my successor the best of conditions."

Sweden's corona commission has published their report: Sweden did too little, too late.

It should be remembered that the lateness was a choice. It was called "rätt åtgärder vid rätt tillfälle", "the right measures at the right time". It was repeated over and over again. 🧵⬇️ 13 March 2020.

Radio interview: The Swedish Public Health Agency has been criticized for being too slow. They have responded that it is important to take the right action at the right time. How to know when the time is right?

sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/1460070

Sweden has been influencing the pandemic strategies of other countries by advising them and acting as a role model. I’ve gathered examples of Sweden’s influence in this thread, which is an updated and organised version of my previous thread. 🧵⬇️ March 2020, Finland.

Swedish officials allegedly made contact with Finnish authorities multiple times in March, expressing concern over Finnish restrictions and requesting that schools remain open.

helsinkitimes.fi/finland/news-i…

Finland, football tourists & Delta:

By Friday, more than 120 cases had been detected among travellers returning from St. Petersburg. Most of the infections have been detected in travellers who have returned from the European Football Championships.

yle.fi/uutiset/osasto… "Infections related to travel to St. Petersburg have been detected all over Finland.

"A large part are in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. There are also infections in Turku, Hämeenlinna, Kuopio, Jyväskylä and even Oulu."

Täyttä asiaa.

https://twitter.com/Haagansrk/status/1400050115449131013

He says:

There are men who say they're not getting vaccinated because they're not afraid of covid. If we're not afraid of covid or death, we can show we're not afraid of a vaccine, either. ->

A lovely day to get my first vaccination here in Turku, Finland. Yay! Here's how it went. I had registered to be vaccinated and soon received an SMS that my vaccination time would be within a week. Yesterday I received a reminder of it and today another.

Listening to a Finnish podcast episode about Sweden. In 🇸🇪's neighbouring countries the question is not if or how 🇸🇪 has been successful. The episode is called "Sweden's corona strategy failed". It begins: "In this episode we talk about Sweden's corona strategy & why it failed." open.spotify.com/episode/2raYq8…

An interesting article about spreading of COVID-19 and contact tracing in Finland: how one person infected 30 more.

I think it's also relevant in Sweden because of the constant downplaying of presymptomatic spread, so I'll sum it up a bit in this thread.

yle.fi/uutiset/3-1191… Time: February 2021
Place: Kymenlaakso region, Finland

25 February, T. ("Tuisku" in the article) was sick with covid but didn't know about it yet. T. doesn't have any symptoms. T. infects three people of T's inner circle and a friend.

Topics: covid-19, school, Sweden, Finland

After moving from Sweden to Finland with my family in 2020, I still get messages from both schools: my kids' school in Sweden and their school in Finland. How they are handling the situation is very different.

Thread. 🧵 Finland: If a child or a staff member has symptoms, they get tested. If it's positive, the tracers contact the school and place the exposed in quarantine and distance learning for two weeks. The families and the public are informed.