STOCKHOLM — A top official running Sweden’s coronavirus response team has asked to resign after blatantly defying the country’s official guidelines and treating himself to a Christmas trip to the Canary Islands.
Dan Eliasson, the director general of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, is “requesting to step down from his position,” the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
The announcement comes amid an uproar in Sweden as a number of senior government members, including Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, were caught flouting their own COVID-19 guidelines. Lofven went on a Christmas shopping outing in a mall without wearing a mask, while his finance minister, Magdalena Andersson, was caught renting skis in a resort singled out by health authorities as a place to avoid.
Since the revelations have been splashed across Swedish media, confidence in the government has plunged. A web poll by Demoskop published on Tuesday showed that support for Lofven slumped 7 points to just 31% of Swedish voters, the biggest drop since the pandemic started.
The poll showed that confidence in Eliasson sank to just 6%, after he opted to embark on a holiday to a warmer climate amid warnings from health authorities to avoid all “unnecessary” travel.
