I’ve been having twinges of soreness in my throat since last Tuesday. Just a tiny bit, just a few times a day. In normal times I might not even have noticed it. But now, like most people, I’m hyper-aware of any cold-like symptoms.

The soreness never got any worse, and I think it has now passed. I felt nothing today. If no new symptoms have appeared after ten days, then this was probably nothing. No more self-quarantine, I can hug my family again!

Meanwhile, Sweden’s handling of covid-19 looks more and more like a failure, with three thousand deaths and counting. Our neighbouring countries (Finland, Norway, Denmark) count their deaths in the low hundreds. They’re all half the size of Sweden, but even counting deaths per million, Sweden has three to six times more deaths than them.

The experts and politicians say that it’s too early to evaluate. Or they question the choice of countries to compare to – “well but what about Belgium?”. Maybe they’re right – who knows? Maybe two years from now we’ll pat ourselves on our shoulders and say that we did a good job anyway.

But one thing that is clear is that I hope I never end up in a Swedish elder care home, or as a recipient of care at home (hemtjänst). Most of the deaths in Sweden have been in care homes. And when I read and hear news reports describing the situation there, it’s no wonder.

The care homes are short of staff, of equipment, of training. Nurses who go back and forth between sick and healthy people. Staff who go to work despite cold-like symptoms.. 40% of staff do not follow basic hygiene rules.

Elderly people who get municipal at-home care meet on average 15 staff in 14 days. And that’s an average, not a maximum! It’s a constant flow of random strangers in your home, helping you with your private, personal needs. Dehumanizing, is what it is.