Swedish Politician Went to Stockholm and Licked Escalator to Intentionally Contract Coronavirus

Swedish local politician Urban Persson has come under criticism after he revealed that he had travelled to Stockholm to purposely get infected with the Wuhan coronavirus.

Persson, who left the populist Sweden Democrats to form his own party, the Storfors Democrats, said that he travelled to Stockholm with a doctor around four weeks ago. He was supposed to meet with a person who was confirmed to have coronavirus, but the meeting was cancelled. He also refused to reveal the identity of the medical professional.

“I am 63 years old and have diabetes and high blood pressure. But I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem. The problem was that we were not allowed to meet the infected person, so it did not work. I tried to lick an escalator in the subway, but that didn’t work,” he said, according to Aftonbladet.

After his travel, the politician was due to attend a budget meeting, but other members of the Strorfors council refused to allow Persson to go in case he was infected with the virus.

Municipal councillor Hans Jildesten explained the rationale behind his colleagues excluding Persson from the local meeting, saying: “I have diabetes and my wife has undergone stem cell therapy. We are both in the high-risk category. If someone says they have been trying to become infected with coronavirus, I do not think it is appropriate that we sit in the same room.”

Persson, however, has complained to the office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, telling Aftonbladet that he should have been allowed in the meeting. He said: “People have become hysterical about this infection.”

Sweden, unlike many other European countries, has had a much more relaxed approach to the coronavirus outbreak, despite several Swedish experts criticising the measures taken by the government in recent weeks.

Björn Olsen, Professor of Infectious Medicine at the University of Uppsala, stated earlier this month that he expected the situation in Sweden to get much worse and warned the country might be heading towards “tragedy”.

So far, compared to its Scandinavian neighbours, Sweden has seen far more cases and far more deaths as a result of the virus.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com