COVID-19: Sweden Records More Than 1,000 Deaths

On Tuesday, Sweden recorded over 1,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus, with the government of the country facing criticisms from medical experts on its approach to the pandemic.

According to the Public Health Agency in Sweden, a total of 11,445 cases had been recorded with 1,033 deaths.

The agency stated that the number could be higher seeing as not all deaths in the country were reported over the Easter break.

A state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said, “Deceased per day is probably the figure we can trust the least today, because there is normally a lot of trailing when it comes to weekends."

Sweden has not toed the line of other European nations in initiating a lockdown in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, but it has urged its citizens to observe the practice of social distancing.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Global Death Toll Exceeds 120,000

Although, gatherings of more than 50 people have been prohobited by the government and there's been a ban on visitations to nursing homes.

Twenty-two doctors, researchers, and virologists published an op-ed criticising the Swedish Government's soft approach to the management of the crisis.

They said that the government has not been able to come up with an effective strategy to help combat the pandemic, citing the growth in the mortality rate in the country, stating that it is higher than that of its neighbours.

They noted, “So in Sweden more than 10 times as many people are dying than in our neighbouring country Finland."