The head of the infectious diseases unit in one of Sweden’s most hard-hit regions has called for the country to impose a hard lockdown as the country registers a record number of new cases. “I think we need much stronger restrictions, and I think it’s time to seriously consider a shutdown of society,” Fredrik Sund, head of the infectious diseases clinic in Uppsala, said on the main evening news programme of state broadcaster SVT. Asked if he meant closing shops and restaurants, and keeping everyone inside, as was done in Italy in the spring, Dr Sund answered: “precisely”. “We need to bring in tougher restrictions which are backed by law, because we’ve now seen that these recommendations are too toothless.” Sweden on Friday registered 4,697 new coronavirus cases, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, although Sweden only tested hospitalised patients in the spring. Dr Sund’s intervention came shortly after emails were published in which Sweden’s state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell tells a predecessor that the country had opted for a herd immunity strategy — something he has consistently denied. According to a story in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, Peet Tüll, who held a similar role 20 years ago, emailed Dr Tegnell on March 15th, outlining three possible strategies: one, a four-week lockdown; two, track, trace and isolate; or three, “allowing contagion to happen, either fast or slow, in order to reach a hypothetical herd immunity”. “Number three,” Tüll wrote, “strikes me as an ill-thought-out and defeatist strategy which I would never have accepted in my previous role.” When Tegnell replied a few hours later, he said that his agency had come to a different conclusion. “Yeah, well, we’ve gone through all that, and despite everything, ended up with three,” he wrote.
