Faktacheck-Sverige has not stopped using PCR tests
The Swedish government has not set up PCR tests to identify covid-19.
The false statement appeared in May on Facebook and Instagram with a screenshot that reads: “Sweden stops using PCR tests. PCR technology cannot distinguish between viruses that can infect cells and viruses that have been neutralized by the immune system and therefore these tests cannot be used to determine if someone is contagious ”(here , here).
Similar statements appeared on Twitter, with popular tweets claiming that Sweden stopped using PCR tests because they “were not suitable for the purpose” (here) and “provided no benefit” (here).
Many of these posts included a screenshot or link to a blog from a site that described itself as “Facebook without censorship and ‘Fact Checker'” (here). The title of the blog reads: “Sweden stops using PCR tests”; however, the body text of the text does not support this title.
The blog simply reports that PCR technology is not the best way to determine when an infected person is no longer infected with covid-19 – a point that seems to have been removed from archived material on the Public Health Agency’s website and translated by Google (here).
The guide was first published in July 2020 and updated in November of the same year. Crucially, the material did not say that Sweden would discontinue PCR testing, but acknowledged that viral RNA can be detected weeks (or months) after illness, which means that a positive result does not necessarily mean that a person is still contagious.
Therefore, the guide described various procedures for determining when someone is no longer contagious with covid-19. These include waiting two days without a fever or seven days after the onset of symptoms – or 14 days for people with more pronounced symptoms.
Anna Wetterqvist, from the Swedish Public Health Agency, confirmed to Reuters in an email that Sweden has not interrupted PCR testing and has not changed any policies or guidelines for their use.
“The plan is to continue with a high test capacity for a long period,” she said, adding that approximately 350,000 PCR tests were performed every week in Sweden during April and May.
In fact, the health authority’s website clearly recommends that people take PCR tests when they feel sick and have symptoms of COVID-19 (here).
JUDGMENT
Fake. Sweden has not stopped using PCR tests for covid-19 diagnoses.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.