Sweden to increase testing as coronavirus cases continue to rise

Sweden plans to significantly scale up testing for the COVID-19 and will carry out 100,000 tests per week by mid-May, officials vowed here on Thursday.

At a joint press conference, Lena Hallengren, minister of health and social affairs, and Johan Carlson, director-general of the Public Health Agency, said that Sweden already had the laboratory capacity to conduct mass testing for some time, but the infrastructure had not been in place until now.

The testing capacity can soon be extended thanks to the introduction of drive-in test stations and home-testing kits, they said.

Hallengren stressed that the tests will be administered through the national healthcare system and that only those with a referral will be allowed to take one.

The minister said it is important that healthcare personnel are involved from start to finish, and that they both administer the tests and interpret the results to ensure the analysis is correct.

Moreover, an already established priority order for COVID- testing will remain intact, meaning tests will be made available for patients in the first instance, and then for medical and care personnel. Third in order are other key workers and fourth come "other relevant parts of society."

Carlson also emphasized that it remains crucial to keep practicing social distancing and in other ways to try to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

"The fact that we are now investing significantly in testing is also a result of us drawing the conclusion that this is not over. We are potentially seeing the beginning of the end. We have a long way to go still when it comes to COVID-19," Carlson said.

Thursday's press conference was held just ahead of Walpurgis night, a popular Swedish holiday that marks the start of spring and that is traditionally celebrated with big gatherings around bonfires. This year, all public celebrations have been canceled throughout Sweden and the government urged Swedes to stay indoors as the number of COVID-19 deaths rose.

Sweden's official death toll is now 2,586. The number of confirmed cases has reached 21,092, and to date a total of 1,476 Swedes have been treated in intensive care units.