Spiritual_Chaos said:

On Saturday, the Public Health Agency reported that a total of 373 people have died as a result of covid-19, an increase of 40 cases since Friday. 154 of these are women and 219 are men.

At the same time, more than 6,400 people have tested positive for the corona virus. 520 people are in intensive care, and the vast majority of these are men.

The dominant age group among the deceased in covid-19 over 70 years. At the same time, the infection continues to spread to the country's retirement homes, not least in the Stockholm area.

mace1229 said:

static111 said:

Can anyone explain how a loose fitting non filtering cloth mask is supposed to help against droplets.  In construction we aren’t allowed to wear loose cloth masks because dust and all manner of things can be breathed in. That’s why there are construction grade respirator masks. So how is a piece of clothing fabric going to save us?

It’s not supposed to protect you from others, but others from you. One big reason for this request is the number of people spreading it without realizing they have it. A loose cloth won’t filter what’s coming in, but will filter what’s going out.

Sweden Girds for Thousands of Deaths Amid Laxer Virus Response

There are signs that the death rate in Sweden is growing faster than elsewhere in Scandinavia, raising pressure on the government to abandon its controversial hands-off approach in tackling Covid-19.

The Swedish experiment has drawn international bewilderment as schools, restaurants and cafes have remained open. And while other countries passed laws restricting movement, Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven relied on the common sense of his fellow citizens to carry his country through the pandemic.

But after a week of sobering data, Lofven now seems to be striking a darker tone. In an interview published on Saturday by Dagens Nyheter, he warned that Sweden may be facing “thousands” of coronavirus deaths, and said the crisis is likely to drag on for months rather than weeks. Meanwhile, newspaper Expressen reported that his Social Democrat-led government may be seeking extraordinary powers to bypass parliament and force through a sterner response to the virus.

The number of Swedish deaths rose to 373 on Saturday, up 12% from Friday. That brings the rate per million in Scandinavia’s biggest economy to 36, compared with 29 in Denmark and 9 in Norway, where much tougher lockdowns are in place.

Sweden’s top epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, says the goal in his country, like everywhere else, is to “flatten the curve” to avoid overwhelming hospitals. As of Thursday, he said that curve is “starting to become somewhat steeper, but overall” remains “fairly flat.”

But Covid-19 comes with so many unknowns that Sweden’s approach has some of its own experts worried.

“They are used to making evidence-based decisions, but that doesn’t work for a pandemic like this, where key coordinates are unknown,” said Claudia Hanson, a Stockholm-based senior lecturer in global public health.

The history of social isolation as an intelligent response to outbreaks like Covid-19 is compelling. Roughly a century ago, when the world was dealing with the Spanish flu, two U.S. cities ended up becoming case studies due to their very different approaches. In Philadelphia, the city staged a parade with 200,000 people a week and a half after the first case was identified, and quickly saw a sharp spike in the death rate. In St. Louis, officials imposed tough social distancing rules; the death rate there was less than half Philadelphia’s.

Meanwhile, the economic cost of shutting down an entire society has added another layer to the debate. But with much of the rest of the world going into lockdown, Sweden’s efforts to keep its economy open aren’t doing much to shield it from recession. In fact, some economists warn Swedish GDP may contract as much as 8% this year, which would represent a far deeper crisis than in 2008-2009.

Sweden has already taken a few steps toward more restrictions. It recently banned gatherings larger than 50, compared with 500 previously. And restaurants can only serve patrons while they’re seated at tables, not while standing at bars. Visits to retirement homes for the elderly are banned, and Lofven has made clear stricter instructions may follow.

But it remains a far cry from measures taken elsewhere. In neighboring Denmark, citizens face hefty fines and even prison sentences for breaking new coronavirus laws. Controversially, the government has also made it easier to expel immigrants as part of the freshly minted legislation.

Lofven has so far sought to play down the role of legislation in shaping Sweden’s response.

“We will never be able to legislate everything, we will never be able to ban all harmful actions,” Lofven said last week. “We all as individuals must take our responsibility.”

static111 said:

mace1229 said:

static111 said:

Can anyone explain how a loose fitting non filtering cloth mask is supposed to help against droplets.  In construction we aren’t allowed to wear loose cloth masks because dust and all manner of things can be breathed in. That’s why there are construction grade respirator masks. So how is a piece of clothing fabric going to save us?

It’s not supposed to protect you from others, but others from you. One big reason for this request is the number of people spreading it without realizing they have it. A loose cloth won’t filter what’s coming in, but will filter what’s going out.

Lerxst1992 said:

static111 said:

Can anyone explain how a loose fitting non filtering cloth mask is supposed to help against droplets.  In construction we aren’t allowed to wear loose cloth masks because dust and all manner of things can be breathed in. That’s why there are construction grade respirator masks. So how is a piece of clothing fabric going to save us?

You misunderstand the purpose of wearing a mask

It has nothing to do with saving you or helping what you breath in . It might do a little to help you but that is not the reason for wearing a cloth mask. It is suggested to be worn to minimize the risk you are, especially if you are asymptomatically infected, from killing others. It will reduce your spray field that could infect others. I am guessing the amenity crowd ain’t too fond of that truth.

Thanks I was wondering how a piece of cloth that can’t filter out dust particles was going to filter out water vapor and droplets. So basically it’s designed to catch as much as it can from spreading when the individual wearer exhales? It’s kind of like getting in a car accident with a seatbelt and no airbags.  Sure you want the airbags but a seatbelt is better than nothing.  Does anyone know what percentage of your breath or sneezes a piece of cloth is supposed to filter out? Just wondering what effectiveness they are projecting this measure to have?  And before anyone jumps down my neck, I have some bandannas and scarves that I will be wearing out.

DewieCox said:

PJNB said:

The number that always seemed most important to me was the ICU cases in each country. Yes testing positive matters but the number of people that are in the ICU is a much more significant indication on how our hospitals are looking and how many deaths are likely to be coming from this virus. This is the first time since they have been keeping track that Italy's numbers have dropped and it was a substantial drop imo for it being the first time. I am hoping that in a couple of weeks we will be talking about hundreds and not thousands. 

Number of people in ICU beds in Italy from Covid 19

-April 4: 3994
-April 3: 4068
-April 2: 4053
-April 1: 4035
-March 31: 4023
-March 30: 3981
-March 29: 3906

Noice!!


I was pretty shocked to hear the number of available hospital beds. 12,000 available in an entire state that includes Chicago.