By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Swedish health authorities said last week that sampling and testing for COVID-19 infection detection in the elderly care, both among the elderly and among the staff, is desirable and required for early detection and prevention of the spread of infection.

The Public Health Authority now publishes support for how sampling can be organized in these facilities.

The document describes practical aspects of how an increased sampling capacity for covid-19 can be organized and applied in special housing for the elderly, such as:

• Generous sampling to detect ongoing covid-19 infection in caregivers, even in non-specific symptoms.

• Infection tracking of newly discovered cases that include people without symptoms, both caregivers and staff.

• Screening of caregivers moving in or returning from hospital care.
• Measures that should be taken on the basis of test results.

• What needs to be in place in the sampling process.

In addition, authorities announced this week that high schools can open for regular classroom instruction again starting the Fall semester of 2020. This is a reversal of a previous recommendation.

The Public Health Authority has compiled statistics and the current state of knowledge on covid-19 for children and young people. The results are positive: Children and young people under the age of 19 constitute a very small proportion of the confirmed covid-19 cases. Children show milder disease progression and rarely become seriously ill. The spread of infection between children is very limited, as is the spread of infection in the school environment. Personnel such as childcare providers, preschool teachers, elementary teachers, leisure educators, high school teachers, other educators with theoretical specialist competence and student assistants have not been diagnosed with covid-19 to a greater extent than other occupational groups.

The Public Health Authority has also looked at studies that evaluate the effects of school closures on the spread of infection, these studies mostly apply to influenza. The overall picture shows that school closures usually did not play a decisive role in curbing the spread of infection in society. However, school closures can have negative effects, for children and young people and for society at large.

Lastly, as of June 14, the Public Health Agency changes its recommendations to allow sports competitions in all age groups.

As of this report, Sweden has reported 37,542 COVID-19 cases, including 4395 deaths.