Swedish epidemiologist is sent death threats for Covid-19 response

Government defends handling of pandemic after criticism over mortality rate

Anders Tegnell has become a controversial figure in Sweden for his guidance on coronavirus response. AFP

Sweden's state epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, has received death threats over his handling of the pandemic, it was reported on Tuesday.

Swedish police are investigating threats made against Dr Tegnell and his family, the daily Aftonbladet newspaper reported.

He is considered by many to be the controversial mastermind behind the country's relatively relaxed coronavirus measures.

Dr Tegnell on Monday denied a claim that Stockholm was on course to achieve herd immunity, where a high enough percentage of the population developed resistance to the virus to stop it from spreading, by the end of the month.

“No, that will not happen,” he told US broadcaster NPR.

Dr Tegnell said he thought the immunity rate in the Swedish capital was still probably lower than 30 per cent.

“As you might be aware, there is a problem with measuring immunity for this virus,” he said.

Sweden has taken a markedly more relaxed approach to tackling its coronavirus outbreak. AFP

A report released last week by Sweden’s public health agency containing the initial findings of a continuing antibody study showed only 7.3 per cent of people in the capital had developed antibodies to Covid-19.

Dr Tegnell is not alone in being threatened. Professor Christian Drosten, the director of the institute of virology at the Charite Hospital in Berlin and a member of the European Commission’s advisory panel on Covid-19, said in April that he, too, receives death threats, which he passes on to the police.

The revelation prompted Sir Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust and a member of the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), to post a Tweet in "solidarity", saying “many of us have received such threats”.

Sweden has been forced to defend its response to the coronavirus pandemic, rejecting “a week-by-week measurement of mortality” that shows the Scandinavian country as having one of the highest death rates in the world.

From May 12 to 19, Sweden reported 6.25 Covid-19 daily deaths for every million people across a seven-day rolling average, said Ourworldindata.org.

That was the highest in Europe, followed by Britain’s average of 5.75 deaths for every million people each day.

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde stressed that “transmission is slowing down, the treatment of Covid-19 patients in intensive care is decreasing significantly and the rising death toll curve has been flattened".

“This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Ms Linde said.

Sweden’s relatively soft approach to fighting the coronavirus attracted international attention.

Large gatherings were banned but restaurants and schools for younger children have stayed open.

The government has urged social distancing and Swedes have largely complied.

But the country has paid a heavy price, with more than 4,000 deaths from Covid-19.

That is about 40 deaths for every 100,000 of population, compared with about 10 in neighbouring Denmark and just over four in Norway, both of which imposed stricter lockdowns early on.

The coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms in most people.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

• 

  A woman visits her husband at a retirement home in Bourbourg (North of France), where a double entry bubble has been installed to allow visits without risk of contamination. AFP

• 

  Dominic Cummings, the embattled special advisor for Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at his house in London, Britain. Reuters

• 

  Rashad, a volunteer with the grassroots charity Hunger has no Religion, instructs children to maintain social distancing in Johannesburg during an Eid Al Fitr meal distributed to hundreds in the neighbourhoods of Westbury and Coronationville. AFP

• 

  A health worker takes samples from a man to test him for Covid-19 coronavirus, at the Biological Sciences unit of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City. AFP

• 

  Nurse Ivanna Banshchikova visits a woman at home in Moscow. AFP

• 

  Schoolchildren receive face masks from the director at a primary school in the district of Attecoube in Abidjan on the first day day after resumption of classes. AFP

• 

  An orphan plays with her new hula hoop during an Eid Al Fitr food and toy distribution for total about 500 orphans in 11 orphanages in Nairobi, Kenya. AFP

• 

  People queue to undergo Covid-19 tests, in San Salvador. El Salvador's government urged the population to comply with preventive measures to stop the growing spread of the coronavirus, which has reached almost 2,000 cases in the country. AFP

• 

  A healthcare worker holds a sign reading "14 per cent of healthcare workers in Madrid are infected" during a protest calling for a reinforced healthcare system outside the Gregorio Maranon hospital in Madrid, as Spain loosens its national lockdown. AFP

• 

  Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen waves after inspecting the military police headquarters in Taipei. AFP

• 

  A patient is carried to be transferred on an ambulance boat from the community of Portel to a hospital in Breves, on Marajo island, Para state, Brazil. AFP

• 

  A man wearing a protective mask uses a cellphone as he sits on a bench near Shinagawa station on the first day after the Japanese government lifted the state of emergency in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters

• 

  A motorist arranges fruits and vegetables for sale next to her vehicle, as an alternative mobile grocery stall on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters