Swedish government criticized over corona handling by parliamentary control committee

A joint control committee in the Swedish parliament (Riksdag) says that the Swedish government’s pandemic handling failed in six cases.

“On several occasions, the government has not acted quickly enough. A lot of time passed before it started with preparations for everything from visiting bans, testing, and infection tracking. 

“If one had reacted faster, one could have started mass testing considerably earlier,” control committee leader Karin Enström from the opposition party Moderaterna said.

“The committee believes the government has failed in handling the pandemic. It’s serious,” she said.

Unanimous criticism

While the committee did not qualify the severity of the criticism, it appeared to be unanimous in its criticism of the government.

“In recent years, we have chosen not to rate the criticism. That may also be a prerequisite for the committee to reach joint positions,” deputy leader Hans Ekström, who belongs to the governing Swedish Social Democratic Party, noted. He also points out that most of the work on the pandemic has been carried out well.

The committee believes, among other things, that the government should have been more active in guiding and managing the visit ban on old people’s homes. 

Distribution of responsibilities

Uncertainty about the division of responsibilities was accentuated in several places in the committee’s criticism, among other things, as an explanation for why the increase in testing activities was belated. 

There was also uncertainty about the purchase of protective equipment for the municipalities and regions. Several suppliers perceived it as if they were only selling such equipment to national authorities.

The government also received criticism for taking a long time to present a proposal for a pandemic law. Due to that, there was not enough time for the committee to consider it in the Riksdag.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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