STOCKHOLM, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Sweden is bringing back its mask mandate in hospitals and nursing homes as surging COVID-19 infections have led to a significant rise in critical cases and deaths over the past week.
Starting from last week, 17 of Sweden's 21 administrative regions reintroduced face mask requirements in hospitals and nursing homes.
Swedavia, the company that operates Stockholm's international airport Arlanda and nine other airports, has also reimposed measures to curb infections. As of last Wednesday, all airport staff have to wear face masks.
Latest data from Sweden's public health agency show that of the 21,751 people who voluntarily got tested between July 18 and 24, some 5,311 were positive with COVID-19, an increase of 13 percent from a week earlier. Most of them were aged over 70.
Experts believe the actual situation of COVID infections could be "significantly worse", as since April, all COVID-19 related restrictions have been abandoned and testing is no more mandatory even for those with symptoms.
The public health agency said it has seen "an increasing spread of COVID-19 in Sweden since the beginning of June," due partly to the more contagious Omicron sub-variant BA.5. Towards the end of last month, the number of new infections continued to rise in many regions, especially in nursing homes and elderly care facilities.
On the other hand, the "short-lived, limited" protection of vaccines is also blamed for the new infection surges, the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter quoted the agency's director general Karin Tegmark Wisell as saying.
The agency said surging COVID-19 infections have led to an increase of critical cases and deaths, and several regions have reported rises in admissions to hospitals and intensive care units.
Meanwhile, surging infections among health workers have caused a shortage of staff in hospitals and nursing homes, Dagens Nyheter reported.
In Sweden's second largest city Gothenburg, the virus detected in sewage water towards the end of July was even higher than during the first three waves of COVID-19, Swedish Television reported.
Professor Niklas Arnberg, a virologist at Umea University, said on Tuesday that the coming months will be challenging for the health care system as several other viruses are likely to emerge and cause parallel infections as the weather gets colder.
As immunity from the previous COVID-19 vaccination wanes, the public health agency recommends a second booster shot for those aged over 65. ■
