Remove a tattoo barely the ink applied.
In mid-November, many Swedes, fans of epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, find themselves faced with a case of conscience.
As the kingdom proves to be overwhelmed by a new outbreak of infections, how many are they still to assume on their skin the face of the general-in-chief in the fight against Covid-19?
In the spring, Anders Tegnell was crumbling under the praise of public opinion, proud of the national strategy going against that adopted by its European neighbors.
No to confinement, chanted the chief epidemiologist, convinced that self-discipline (telework, social distancing, hand hygiene ...) would be enough to stem the various waves of contamination.
And that excess mortality, comparable to that of the countries most affected at the outset, would eventually drop in the long term and return to its usual level, without closing its offices, shops and schools.
A man shows off his Anders Tegnell tattoo in Stockholm, April 27, 2020. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
Six months later, these certainties, in particular around a strategy of “collective immunity” more or less assumed, are no longer unanimous.
The country's economy looks grim, the number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants is still close to that of France (60), well behind the results of the Scandinavian neighbors (around 6) who had chosen to confine and have just moved from start again with the second wave of the epidemic.
Worse, the Swedish curve for positive tests has been going crazy for a few days and is about to exceed in proportion that of France (below the number of daily positive tests per million inhabitants).
This exponential increase raises fears of a congestion of hospital services in two weeks, three weeks.
Especially since serious cases are already on the rise, with an average of 20 intensive care admissions per day.
Figures not reached since the end of last May.
Reinforced recommendations but no sanctions
Faced with this alarming observation, the government was forced to make some adjustments even if it still refuses to go through the sanctions box.
Visits to nursing homes prohibited in the capital Stockholm and in Gothenburg, sale of alcohol prohibited from 10 p.m., use of public transport and gyms not recommended ... But above all, from November 24, the "recommended" gauge gatherings, hitherto fixed from 50 to 300 people depending on the case, will drop to eight for a month.
"Do not go to the gym, do not go to the library, do not have dinners, or parties. Cancel!", Urged Prime Minister Stefan Löfven on Monday evening.
This measure, "very intrusive" and "unprecedented", is "necessary", he justified during an online press conference.
Necessary, because the worsening of the health situation is completely unforeseen.
“A mystery”, even… Here is how Anders Tegnell himself described the epidemic rebound in progress last week.
Immunity four times lower than expected
In Sweden as in France or elsewhere, this second epidemic episode is surprising as the virus circulates in a much more homogeneous manner on the territory.
"So it seems that if you had a lot of cases in the spring, you are also seeing a lot now," a specialist from the Public Health Agency confirmed to the Financial Times with an equally dubious air.
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In the forecasts of the institution, the second wave was not possible thanks to the acquisition of a rate of immunity within the population much higher than among supporters of confinement.
In April, she projected that 40% of the population of Stockholm would be infected and provided with protective antibodies by May.
According to the agency's own antibody studies released on September 3 for samples taken through the end of June, the actual figure for random antibody testing is only 11.4% for Stockholm, 6.3 % for Gothenburg and 7.1% in all of Sweden.
A strategy or a prophecy?
These figures obviously feed the refractory minds, just as appalled by the lack of obligation to wear a mask, except in public hospitals.
For them, the quest for collective immunity has been a source of blindness.
"Pious wishes - when you do not believe in the worst scenario - have too guided Swedish decisions," said the Telegraph Annika Linde, who until 2013 held the post of Anders Tegnell.
“The Swedish authorities have always been slow.
Instead of being proactive, they ran after the virus, and the virus was able to spread before they acted, ”she said, finally deeming the country's screening capacity too low.
Chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell refuses to use the term collective immunity stricto sensu.
An objective "neither ethical nor justifiable", he recently assured for example with the German newspaper Die Zeit, taking again the words of the boss of the WHO.
But his word is no longer authentic as in the spring.
The Times magazine put forward at the end of October, supporting documents, that this objective of "natural protection" was assumed internally.
Just like that of a potentially very heavy human cost among the most fragile and the oldest.
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Covid-19: is collective immunity just a fad?
Despite growing protests within the medical community, Anders Tegnell is sticking to his positions.
And refuses to go through total confinement and imposed by decree.
He repeated it on Monday: “The government does not believe in a total lockdown.
We believe that the measures we have taken are appropriate ”.
Bet on the long term and on the confidence of the population: almost a word of the gospel.