More people in Sweden buying face masks
More and more people are buying face masks at Swedish pharmacies, reports the TT news agency, despite the country being among the very few in the world that have not issued an official coronavirus recommendation to wear face masks in crowded spaces.
Apotea, Sweden’s largest online pharmacy, sold around 700,000 face masks last week, a huge increase on a few weeks ago, when it sold a weekly average of 80,000-90,000. State-owned Apoteket, the largest pharmacy chain, also told TT that face mask sales increased 139 percent between November 1st and 23rd, compared to the same period in October.
Swedish vocabulary: pharmacy – apotek
'Long Covid' sufferers call for more support in Sweden
More resources are needed for patients with long-term symptoms of Covid-19, according to the Svenska Covidförening, a patients' association with over 1,400 members. The association recently released a report highlighting some of the problems faced by sufferers of the condition known as 'long Covid'.
"It is a huge problem that it is not talked about. There is a great risk that people's perception is that the problem does not exist. And we want to show that it actually does," said chairperson Åsa Kristoferson Hedlund.
She compared the situation in Sweden with that of the UK, where money has been allocated to open dozens of specialist clinics for those with long-term symptoms.
Swedish vocabulary: long-term – långvarig
Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT
Sweden urges Iran to halt execution of Karolinska researcher
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has spoken to her Iranian counterpart to condemn the death sentence of Iranian-Swedish professor Ahmadreza Djalali.
The news follows reports that Iran was preparing to carry out the execution of Djalali, a specialist in emergency medicine formerly based in Stockholm. He was arrested during a visit to Iran in April 2016, and he has said he is being punished for refusing to spy for Iran while working in Europe..
Swedish vocabulary: death penalty – dödstraff
Photo: Hossein Salmanzadeh/TT
Sweden extends local coronavirus recommendations
Twenty of Sweden's 21 administrative regions are currently subject to stricter local coronavirus measures. On Tuesday, the Public Health Agency extended all of these to remain in place until at least December 13th.
State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell warned that the number of cases, cases of serious illness, and deaths were likely to continue to rise over the next few weeks. "We have probably still not reached the peak," he said, emphasising the importance of minimising social contacts and staying at home when showing symptoms.
The exact rules vary between regions, but all include strong recommendations to avoid close contact (being closer than 1.5 metres) with people you don't live with, with most urging residents to avoid indoor environments like shops and gyms, and avoid public transport for non-essential journeys. In addition to those 20 regions, Blekinge has its own set of stricter recommendations not linked to the Public Health Agency, which are currently in place until at least November 30th.
Swedish vocabulary: indoors – inomhus
A sign in the Stockholm central station asks passengers to follow recommendations. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT
Healthcare watchdog condemns 'serious flaws' in elderly care during pandemic
A report shared by Sweden's healthcare watchdog on Tuesday was highly critical of the treatment of some care home residents during the coronavirus pandemic, including that some patients died without ever being given an assessment by a doctor.
Of the 6,500 deaths linked to Covid-19 in Sweden, nearly half have occurred at elderly care homes and a quarter have been elderly people being cared for at home. You can read more about the conclusions of the report here.
Swedish vocabulary: flaw/failure – brist
Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT
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