GUWonder

All the mentioned immigrant groups seem to be the large immigrant groups from or before the early 2000s (including much earlier in the case of many Finns, Iranians, Turks, many Kurds and non-Sunni Arabs in Sweden) that have been in Sweden long enough and in substantial enough numbers to have larger numbers of older members here than most of the other immigrant groups with non-European origins. Of such “over-represented” foreign-born persons who have died with this virus in Sweden, most probably don’t live in single-family houses.

I strongly suspect that housing arrangements, work type of those living in a community, age and health condition of an individual just prior to exposure to this virus are factors which strongly correlate in ways who has been dying from this in Sweden so far in ways that make them “over-represented”.

I would not be surprised if the pattern in Stockholm ends up having its sort of matches elsewhere in Sweden but still be a bit different. Why may it be different? Because the immigrants who live in and around Stockholm may be not be a perfect copy of immigrants who live in other parts of Sweden even when comparing people from the same country of birth.

This virus situation may provide a very good window into how Sweden works and doesn’t work, but my bet is that findings to be had by using the window won’t be used in any productive way to secure the public in Sweden from the next pandemic.

Fredrik74

I was wondering about Latin Americans who "should" be on these lists since they live in the same neighbourhoods as the other groups mentioned here..

But yes, I think there could be some interesting lessons learned afterwards. Btw, there were plenty of people out and about near my neighbourhood yesterday evening. The vast majority seemed to be of Middle Eastern extraction.

GUWonder

Ramadan-related traffic in Sweden? I haven’t noticed it much in Malmo yet, and there are a couple of reasons for that. Arab and various other immigrant families in Sweden seem to be out and about even with kids later into the evening than is typical for most families in Sweden, but that’s a phenomenon that is more or less year-round as long as it’s not pitch black or bad weather outside.

The virus death count in Sweden increased by 131 for today’s number. So the running total supplied by the government is now 2152 dead from this virus.

In and around Malmo, traffic on public transit has seen a substantial pickup over last week and the stores are increasingly busy. Even at lunch time, it’s become more common to see “women who lunch” out in groups with their strollers today than was the case a week ago. And school parking lots and bicycle stands seem much busier today than they were earlier this month. And lunch places around offices seem to have a recovery in traffic underway.

nacho

Went to Svagertorp and St Bernstorp to pick up some essentials yesterday, damn it was busy. Today we did our grocery shopping at a local store, wow, old people have no physical distancing, and the parking lot was full. Whole bunch of school kids walking back to their school after going somewhere.

If kids are not transmitting the virus, why can't they go to see their grandparents? If elderly homes ban visitors, they should let everyone under 15 to go in because it's insignificant that school children get the virus.

GUWonder

I wonder if nacho knows about the open but mostly empty stores at the Emporia mall at Hyllie that have had lines of closely bunched up customers outside some stores who are waiting to be let in trickle by trickle. The live feed at lunch time today reminded me of the lines where people wait to be let into nightclubs in Sweden. And I am talking about nightclub lines even from before this coronavirus situation..

Welcome to Swedish “social distancing” in action.

nacho

I was at Emporia yesterday too - I went to Willys and ICA, and I haven't seen any line outside the shops, not even Systembolaget (we were there around 14.00). I think it's usually A LOT more packed on Friday, and yes I was surprised I was able to found parking close to the mall entrance (during "normal" times I had to park like on the top floor to park close to the mall entrance).

Mollevangtorget would probably be more packed because people like to shop outside when the weather is great.

GUWonder

Most of the (few) stores with a line established outside to limit customer numbers in the stores at Emporia are not on the floor with ICA/Willy’s . They would be mainly on the 2nd floor and 3rd floors, and it was on the second floor today where at least two stores had such nightclub type lines with several people waiting to get in to shop at lunchtime today.

GUWonder

Of the big taxi companies that operate in Malmo and Lund, one has less than 15% of their taxis operating today. Demand isn’t there, so the vast majority of the drivers and taxis are not in service even on a Friday.

GUWonder

So this afternoon at around 2pm, the biggest shopping mall in southern Sweden (ie the Emporia mall) was busy like crazy despite the outside weather being great. It seemed to be one of the busiest days at the mall since the December-January holiday shopping period, and social distancing was apparently not on the mind of most shoppers at the mall.

Normally with such nice weather on a weekend in Sweden, going into malls during the middle of the nice afternoons would not be very popular. But apparently it was very popular today despite the excellent weather in the area for this time of the year.

The death count in Sweden for this virus went up 40 from the previous day’s figure, and the running total in Sweden is now 2192 dead with this virus.

nacho

Apparently IKEAs are packed today - my friend went to the one for candies (BOGO) and other people reported very packed IKEA in other parts of Sweden.

Emporia has a very nice roof top area with a great view of the bridge and plenty of outdoor seating (food court and espresso house).

I only go to places in Emporia that's close to the indoor parking lot, and I mostly shop at the grocery stores there.

Today's low number is probably because it's weekend.

GUWonder

The outdoor, rooftop esplanade is popular in ways but the shops indoor were the real action was today with bigger crowds.

The joke is that the Malmo daycare kids know about the Emporia esplanade more than most Malmo residents but that the kids parents rarely make it to the outdoor esplanade if they can even find their way around the mall quickly and consistently.

IKEA stores have great views? Well, not for me.

nacho

I guess a lot of people feel the virus is somewhere far away, so why not take a trip to Ikea to get some new decorations. I wonder if their restaurants are open. We will know the effect in about 2 weeks time.

GUWonder

A group of Emporia’s security guards hanging out together said they had each only seen one mall visitor wearing a mask at Emporia during the morning and early afternoon yesterday, and they too thought it was the most crowded day they had seen at the mall in a month at least. The coffee shops had their best business there in well over a month.

The restaurants in the mall have been struggling in recent months, and some of them were already in a precarious position even before March. But those are mall restaurants.

Restaurant owners in general have not been provided much of any useful government assistance for the virus situation in Sweden.

Professional service types dealing in bankruptcy and company reorganization/restructuring type issues in Sweden are going to see more such business even for businesses that are further removed from export problems.

nacho

Emporia gets a lot of people who work nearby to eat lunch there (including some kids from schools who are allowed to go out to eat lunch), since a lot of them are WFH/furloughed/stay at home it reduces the demand a lot. I could even see that in Ikea early March, the restaurant has about max. 40% of customers (usually it's packed during lunch time).

GUWonder

Going to IKEA for lunch or around mealtimes sounds way worse to me than being in quarantine by myself for 14 days. For me, any day in IKEA would already be a bad day in Sweden.

How’s the Mall of Scandinavia in Stockholm holding up during this virus situation?