Sweden's coronavirus plan has 'failed miserably', opposition politicians declare as they call for the country's chief epidemiologist to quit
Sweden's coronavirus response has been a 'miserable failure' and state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell should resign, opposition politicians have said.
Jimmie Akkeson, leader of the Sweden Democrats, led calls for Tegnell's head this week - saying it is time for him to 'accept responsibility' for Sweden's high case and death tolls and step down.
He was joined by other politicians who attacked the government over its handling of the crisis, saying the 'herd immunity' strategy had led to too many deaths.
Sweden has suffered 45,133 cases of coronavirus so far - the highest total by far of Nordic countries - after avoiding full lockdown (pictured, daily case totals which spiked over the weekend after old cases were added to the system, causing an apparent spike)
Sweden has also suffered 4,694 deaths, many of them in care homes which has led to strong criticism of the government's approach (pictured, daily death totals)
Akkeson let rip at Tegnell, whose advice led the government to shun full lockdown in favour of relaxed social distancing, in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
He accused Sweden's public health body of making 'grossly inaccurate' predictions about the spread of the pandemic early on and of failing to correct those mistakes.
He said: 'The government and the Public Health Authority have been given chance after chance to correct their mistakes.
'Despite this, the delays and the hand-wringing remain.
'Those responsible for the wrong decisions should therefore leave their positions with immediate effect.'
Zeroing in on the crisis in Swedish care homes - which have been particularly hard-hit by the virus - he added that elderly people 'have obviously not received the protection and support they can rightly expect'.
He also accused the government of trying to hide behind the decisions of public health experts, and of showing 'weak political leadership' during the crisis.
Opposition politicians are now calling for the resignation of Anders Tegnell, Sweden's state epidemiologist whose advice led the country to shun full lockdown
Akkeson was joined in his attacks by Ebba Busch, leader of the Christian Democrat party, who blamed the government's strategy for causing too many deaths.
'What we can say about Sweden is that the greater part of those who are now mourning over those they have lost this spring are doing so because Sweden quite knowingly allowed a large spread of the infection,' she said.
Sweden has logged 45,133 cases of coronavirus so far along with 4,694 deaths - far higher than its Nordic neighbours, even when population size is taken into account.
Social Minister Lena Hallangren hit back at the criticism, saying that all decisions were made using the best-available information at the time.
'We will be overwhelmed by the wisdom and lessons learned as we go through this pandemic,' she said. 'It will be very important.
'Until then, the government will continue to make decisions based on the knowledge we have when each decision is made.
Jimmie Akesson, leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, led calls for Tegnell to go - saying it is time he 'took responsibility' for his failures
'We will not let the fear of being criticized paralyze our decision-making in this crisis and we will, without pride, correct our strategy if necessary.
Tegnell admitted for the first time last week that he got Sweden's strategy wrong, saying that too many had died under his strategy.
Asked to fight coronavirus again with the benefit of hindsight, he said he would land somewhere between Sweden's rules and the full lockdowns used in most of Europe.
Sweden has allowed schools, bars, restaurants and cafes to remain open throughout the pandemic - only banning gatherings of more than 50 people and banning visits to elderly care homes.
Faced with increasing pressure over his strategy, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has said that a planned inquiry into lockdown will be launched sooner than anticipated.
Lofven had previously said an inquiry would begin once the pandemic is over, but last week said it will begin before the summer.
Sweden's coronavirus plan has 'failed miserably', opposition politicians declare as they call for the country's chief epidemiologist to quit
![Sweden's coronavirus plan has 'failed miserably', opposition politicians declare as they call for the country's chief epidemiologist to quit]()
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June 10, 2020
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