March 2020 • SwedeInternational

3 March Good eating for the Corona virus

good eating in virus times
pic: bullens.se

Swedes who are nervous about the spread, and effects, of the Corona virus are hoarding dry goods, SvD reports. Dry yeast is apparently good to have on hand if the crisis hits hard, as it has sold out in many stores. Frozen food, rice and canned goods have also sold in higher than normal volume.

Bullen’s “pilsnerkorv” is a popular product to hoard. This canned “sausage product” has, in reality, no beer at all in the conserving liquid, sadly. The product was introduced in 1953 and made famous by its endorsement by a famous actor at the time, Erik “Bullen” Berglund. Berglund recommended eating the sausage by laying it on a piece of hardbread, along with a bay leaf, topped by a squeeze of his favorite mustard.

Dry pasta also sold at slightly higher levels than normal last week, reported Willy’s store manager Anders Selsborg in Uppsala. However, he said to SvD, it was hard to know if it was because of hoarding or it was because of February’s paycheck coming in.

2 March Corona presser

Löfven et al at the press conference this afternoon
pic: Tomas Oneborg, SvenskaDagbladet

In case you weren’t sure, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven held a news conference late this afternoon to say that the government was taking the Corona virus outbreak very seriously. “Sweden’s collected expertise is mobilized to handle the situation” stated Löfven. According to SvD, he’s even canceling his upcoming planned visit to South Africa.

In related news, the Swedish Transport Agency ( transportstyrelsen) decided earlier today to not allow planes flying directly from Iran to land. Minister for Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren called it an example of “responsible Swedish expert authority -following developments, and updating its guidelines and recommendations.” “Also other agencies show great responsiveness to expert advice,” she added.

The 15th case of the Corona virus has just been reported out of the Stockholm region.

1 March Anti-vaxxer to speak in Göteborg

Backa Folkets Hus outside of Göteborg has raised a lot of hackles by allowing an organization to hire the venue to hear a talk about the danger of vaccinations.

“The People’s House and Parks” (Folkets Hus & Parker) is a country-wide organization that administers 520 “Folkets Hus” venues. These venues can be hired by organizations and associations that are members of Folkets Hus & Parker for meetings, talks, educational courses, exhibitions and more. One of these member associations has rented the space to hear an anti-vaxxer speak.

According to Peter Andersson, administrator of the Backa Folkets Hus space, the only requirement for people wanting to rent the space is that they don’t go over time and that they clean it properly afterwards. Regarding this particular speaker, Andersson responded to DN “We live in a democracy, don’t we? Just because you learn certain things in school doesn’t mean that they’re correct.”

The woman who is to speak, an editor for a website that is critical to vaccinations (and who isn’t named in the article), describes the meeting as one in which she will be bringing up the “grim reality” of inoculations. The media, she claims, are influenced by the propaganda spouted by pharmaceutical companies, DN reports. The media don’t report on the side effects of shots: By only describing vaccinations as humanity’s salvation they’re just “playing into the hands of the pharmaceutical industry” (springer industrins ärenden).

Although there are no specific regulations, local Folkets Hus associations are encouraged to not have racist or other exclusionary speakers or organizations as members. The chair for the national association, Calle Nathanson, says that although the event sounds like fake news propagation, they are not about to forbid it: “No, we don’t do things like that. It would be like not allowing freedom of speech.”

The talk is scheduled for late March.