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Coronavirus takes a toll in Sweden’s immigrant community: Somali and Iraqi immigrants hit hardest
Sacramento Bee ^ | 05/09/2020 | David Keyton

Posted on 05/09/2020 10:29:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

The flight from Italy was one of the last arrivals that day at the Stockholm airport. A Swedish couple in their 50s walked up and loaded their skis into Razzak Khalaf's taxi.

It was early March and concerns over the coronavirus were already present, but the couple, both coughing for the entire 45-minute journey, assured Khalaf they were healthy and just suffering from a change in the weather. Four days later, the Iraqi immigrant got seriously ill with COVID-19.

Still not able to return to work, Khalaf is part of the growing evidence that those in immigrant communities in the Nordic nations are being hit harder by the pandemic than the general population.

Sweden took a relatively soft approach to fighting the coronavirus, one that attracted international attention. Large gatherings were banned but restaurants and schools for younger children have stayed open. The government has urged social distancing, and Swedes have largely complied.

The country has paid a heavy price, with 3,175 fatalities from COVID-19. That's more than 31 deaths per 100,000 population, compared with about 8 per 100,000 in neighboring Denmark, which imposed a strict lockdown early on that is only now being slowly lifted.

Inside Sweden's immigrant communities, anecdotal evidence emerged early in the outbreak that suggested that some — particularly those from Somalia and Iraq — were hit harder than others. Last month, data from Sweden’s Public Health Agency confirmed that Somali Swedes made up almost 5 percent of the country's COVID-19 cases, yet represented less than 1 percent of its 10 million people.

Many in these communities are more likely to live in crowded, multigeneration households and are unable to work remotely.

“No one cares for taxi drivers in Sweden,” said Khalaf, who tested positive and was admitted to a hospital

(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: africa; covid19; immigrants; iraq; italy; somalia; sweden
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To: SeekAndFind

So what’s the downside?

L


21 posted on 05/09/2020 10:46:36 AM PDT by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: Ouderkirk

Silver lining maybe.


22 posted on 05/09/2020 10:47:24 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage? (Drain the Swamp. Build the Wall.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Is that a bad thing?


23 posted on 05/09/2020 10:49:07 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: Lurker

RE: So what’s the downside?

Native Swedes get infected and die.


24 posted on 05/09/2020 10:49:27 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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To: Cowboy Bob

RE: Somalia has less than 1000 cases, and less than 50 deaths.

How widespread and accurate is their testing there?


25 posted on 05/09/2020 10:50:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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To: SeekAndFind
Somali and Iraqi immigrants hit hardest

Once again, the victimhood language of the Left.

the fact is, Somali and Iraqi immigrants are most ignorant of disease transmission, and largely disrespecting of Swedish/Western social norms that govern contact between individuals and limit disease spread.

In sum, their own culture and behavior has brought the consequences of this plague upon themselves.

26 posted on 05/09/2020 10:51:00 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: SeekAndFind

I wonder of Ilhan Omar is more vulnerable to the virus than the ordinary person.


27 posted on 05/09/2020 10:51:03 AM PDT by Kazan
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To: Grampa Dave

The flight from Italy was one of the last arrivals that day at the Stockholm airport. A Swedish couple in their 50s walked up and loaded their skis into Razzak Khalaf’s taxi.

And of course, it was an evil white couple who infected the Muzzie cabbie


28 posted on 05/09/2020 10:51:35 AM PDT by A_Former_Democrat (Open up America! Enough! COMMUNISM was and IS the problem Boycott China)
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To: webheart

Somali Invader Swedes don’t have the genetic tweak some real Swedes have.. CCR5 Delta32 that helps protect against HIV

they should have stayed home


29 posted on 05/09/2020 10:51:42 AM PDT by RummyChick ( Yeah, it's Daily Mail. So what.)
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To: BenLurkin; Larry Lucido; SaveFerris; Gamecock
insert seinfeld meme here


30 posted on 05/09/2020 10:52:49 AM PDT by PROCON (Molon Labe)
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To: SeekAndFind

Cry me a fjord [I know they are in short supply in Sweden].


31 posted on 05/09/2020 10:53:19 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Magic Fingers
Testing indicates that the deficiency is almost as bad among fair-skinned people in the sunny climates.

As we get into warmer weather, more people will be walking around in t-shirts and shorts, and spending more time outdoors.

32 posted on 05/09/2020 10:54:23 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire)
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To: SeekAndFind

Nice try, sacramento bee, but you failed. You didn’t convince me that Swedes are stupid, evil racists who deliberately plotted the deaths of those wonderful, kind, intelligent, caring immigrants.


33 posted on 05/09/2020 10:59:35 AM PDT by I want the USA back (I fear my government more than the bug. I hate that which makes me afraid. And the media.)
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To: SeekAndFind

How can this be? I read that imans were praying to their allah to use the C-virus to destroy the Jews, Christians and unbelievers!

Didn’t their allah get the message? Did he pray at the wrong time when their allah was distracted or on the pot? or was he a few degrees off from groveling toward Mecca.


34 posted on 05/09/2020 11:00:52 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: SeekAndFind
but the couple, both coughing for the entire 45-minute journey, assured Khalaf they were healthy and just suffering from a change in the weather.

Many of America's infections have resulted from the same stupidity. Italians at the Biogen conference. Woman on the bus in Detroit. Someone at the Albany Georgia funerals. It might seem a little harsh to call that stupid based on what we know now. But it's not. People who were sick should not have been out, and if they were out, they should have covered their coughs.

35 posted on 05/09/2020 11:02:29 AM PDT by palmer (Democracy Dies Six Ways from Sunday)
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To: SeekAndFind

Dark skinned people in far north climates are unable to absorb sunlight and synthesize vitamin D.


36 posted on 05/09/2020 11:02:30 AM PDT by libh8er
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To: Cowboy Bob

For the last 5 years, immigrant communities in London had higher per capita Tuberculosis and Influenza cases than most sub-Sahara African nations. My guess is that it’s partially due to having multiple families packed into individual apartments.


37 posted on 05/09/2020 11:02:42 AM PDT by Morpheus2009
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To: SeekAndFind

The downside is, even with greater infection rates, the mortality rate is nowhere enough to significantly alter the total immigrant population in Sweden.

In fact, they gain internal “herd immunity” even more quickly.

The native Swedes were ALREADY practicing “social distancing” even before the COVID-19 Wuhan virus came to their country. The immigrant residents tend to cluster much more closely, and of course were subject to MUCH higher transmission rates.


38 posted on 05/09/2020 11:04:45 AM PDT by alloysteel (Freedom is not a matter of life and death. It is much more serious than that..)
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To: SeekAndFind

Gee, that’s a shame.


39 posted on 05/09/2020 11:15:10 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Who could have guessed the Communist Revolution would arrive disguised as the common cold?)
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To: PGR88
the fact is, Somali and Iraqi immigrants are most ignorant of disease transmission, and largely disrespecting of Swedish/Western social norms that govern contact between individuals and limit disease spread.

Are you saying there might be something to this "hand washing" and "toilet paper" sorcery?

40 posted on 05/09/2020 11:17:50 AM PDT by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my dear Friend Henry Lee II)
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