“Thoughts after a pandemic” is the title of Tegnell’s book. In the book, he takes the opportunity to look back at how Sweden and other countries handled the coronavirus. – In retrospect, we see that we did things differently in Sweden, but that things evened out over time, Tegnell tells news. One thing he did differently and which he was critical of the Norwegian authorities was the decision to close primary schools to prevent the spread of the virus. – I am very satisfied that we kept the schools open. I think that was important for many children, says Tegnell today. In the book that will be published now, Tegnell says that he was shocked when he received the news that Denmark and Norway chose to close the schools. “Many people started to get really sick. That same afternoon, a message arrived that shocked me.” “Denmark decided to close its schools. Norway soon followed. I thought it was extreme that they went that way so quickly. The information we had at the time did not indicate that children were the engine for the spread of infection. They did not appear to be infected to a very large extent.” – I think it was important for many children to have a safe everyday life to go to, he explains to news. Video: Tegnell tells about the situation when Norway chose to close the schools, but Sweden kept them open. Let the primary schools be open The public health authorities in Sweden decided to leave the primary schools open. They introduced distance learning for students in upper secondary schools. “I think it turned out well on all levels – from an infection prevention point of view it was reasonable, and politically it was successful because the politicians felt they were doing something in the school area. At the same time, the youngest children could continue to go to school.” School registration has also been criticized here in Norway. Infection control expert Preben Aavitsland at the Institute of Public Health thought it was a mistake to close the schools. The corona committee also pointed out that children and young people had to bear a disproportionately large burden during the pandemic. Tegnell has called the new book “Thoughts after a pandemic”. Photo: Nature & Culture Criticized Between 2013 and 2022, Anders Tegnell was Sweden’s state epidemiologist and also the person who had to answer for Sweden’s corona strategy. It was a strategy that at times was strongly criticized both in and outside of Sweden. Sweden handled the pandemic differently than most countries. While most countries closed down, Sweden chose for a long time to keep society as open as possible. But criticism increased as thousands of elderly people died of covid-19 in Swedish nursing homes in the first months of the pandemic. Many believed that the Swedish measures came far too late. In Norway, society was shut down on March 12, among other things. Tegnell is nevertheless a bit questioning about the extensive closures that were carried out in other countries. “But many countries closed their communities at breakneck speed. The closures varied in degree. In Norway you were not allowed to go to the cabin, in Spain you were almost not allowed to go outside the door at all, except for certain special purposes such as buying food or medicine”. – I don’t think this is about being right and not right, but that we made the best possible decisions when it happened, he says. Sweden, with its roughly 10.3 million inhabitants, has registered over 15,000 corona-related deaths and more than 1,170,000 cases of infection since the pandemic broke out.
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Was shocked that Norway closed the schools – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
