STOCKHOLM, January 13 (Xinhua) – Sweden’s health care system is under pressure because the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of abating in the country, says a recent report submitted to the government.
Four of Sweden’s 21 regions said that the COVID-19 pandemic “seriously affects life and health” while seven regions said that regular health care is negatively affected, according to the report.
Swedish TV said on Wednesday that the healthcare systems around Sweden are under great strain and important medical interventions are postponed due to lack of staff and resources.
Mats Bojesti, health and hospital director in the Jönköping region in southern Sweden, said that some medical staff work 13-hour shifts to fit in operations. The Uppsala region, just north of Stockholm, reported that “the consequences become more serious the longer the pandemic lasts.”
Most regions said that the test and vaccination procedures are satisfactory, although the Gavleborg region in the east has tested for bodies due to lack of resources and the Kalmar region in the southeast reported an inability to meet the need for vaccination.
Sweden registered 5,337 new cases of coronavirus and 167 new deaths since Tuesday.
A total of 512,203 people in the country have been confirmed infected with COVID-19 and the total number of deaths now amounted to 9,834.
As the world struggles to curb the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with already approved coronavirus vaccines.
At the same time, 236 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide – 63 of them in clinical trials – in countries such as Germany, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to information published by the WHO on Tuesday.