Nearly half of deaths due to Covid-19 in Sweden were elderly people living in nursing homes, where they were delayed to be admitted to hospital when they fell ill.

Reza, Lili Sedghi's father, was not examined by the doctor on the day of his death because Covid-19 at a nursing home in northern Sweden's capital, Stockholm.

"Nobody was there, he died alone," Sedghi said.

Nearly 3,700 people died of nCoV in Sweden, most of them over 70, although the country emphasized the priority to protect high-risk groups, including elderly people living in nursing homes.

Sweden has banned outsiders from visiting nursing homes since March 31.

Now, more and more nursing home workers are criticizing regional health officials for regulations that discourage them from taking elderly people in nursing homes to hospitals and preventing them from using breathing aids without

"They told us not to take anyone to the hospital, even those who are not too old," said Latifa Löfvenberg, a nurse who used to work in several nursing homes around Gävle, north of Stockholm, into the period.

"Some people may have years to live with their loved ones, but they have no chance of not being taken to the hospital in time," she said.

Löfvenberg is working at the department that treats people with nCoV infection in a large hospital in the Swedish capital.

An emergency medical technician in Stockholm said she had never been asked to go to a nursing home for reasons related to Covid-19, despite being assigned to work overtime.

Mikael Fjällid, a Swedish consultant on anesthesia and intensive care, believes that "a lot of lives" could be saved if nursing home residents were treated in a hospital or if nursing home staff were

"If a person only has a 20% chance of surviving without intervention, there is also a chance that he or she will have an additional 20% chance of survival if assisted breathing," Fjällid said.

Local authorities make their own human resources and health resources in Sweden, but according to national guidelines, elderly patients, whether in aged or private nursing homes, should not be automatically taken to a hospital.

Thomas Linden, Medical Director at the National Health and Welfare Committee, said employees should weigh the benefits and risks such as cross-contamination in hospitals and the inconvenience of transferring patients.

With regard to palliative care, Linden argues that it is not mandatory for patients to breathe and acknowledges that "specialists and regions have different opinions about the effectiveness of breathing aids."

Gävleborg, where Latifa Löfvenberg used to work when the new outbreak broke out, said that the needs of each patient were always a top priority and nurses could call a doctor to assess whether nursing home residents needed to be admitted.

Christoffer Bernsköld, a geriatric spokesperson for the Stockholm Region Health Network, affirmed that sufficient resources were available to ensure that all patients in the capital had acute or palliative care.

Meanwhile, government critics like Mikael Fjällid see the field hospital as a sign that officials in the capital are too hesitant for elderly people to be hospitalized for fear of overcrowding, because the hospitals are

Unlike Sweden, representatives of nursing homes in other European countries assert that the elderly in their country are fully treated.

In the UK, the National Health Association says that people with nCoV infection are cared for "no matter how old or how old they are".

The Danish Nurse Association says all patients who need breathing assistance are admitted to the hospital.

Last week, Sweden announced an additional 2.2 billion kronor ($ 220 million) for additional training for nursing home workers, with the goal of creating 10,000 primary health care and care staff positions.

It was a half-hearted and sad message to the relatives of Covid-19 victims like Lili Sedghi, who lost his father last week.