New study maps COVID-19 ICU burden across the Nordics

A new Nordic study published in BMC Infectious Diseases provides a comprehensive overview of COVID-19-related intensive care admissions across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland during 2020–2023.

By: Gøril Vikøren Nøkleby and Elina Seppälä

Published:

Picture of author
Photo: Elina Seppälä/BMC Springer

Despite vaccination programmes, a substantial burden on intensive care services remained, particularly among vulnerable groups. The authors highlight the importance of continued preparedness and closer Nordic collaboration, including harmonised data and definitions, to strengthen responses to future pandemics.

This study brings new evidence on how COVID-19 affected critical care capacity in comparable health systems—and underscores the need to remain prepared for severe disease even in highly vaccinated populations.

The burden of COVID-19-related intensive care admissions in the Nordic countries, 2020–2023 (external link)

About the first author

Lead author Elina Seppälä, from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, led the Nordic collaboration, bringing together registry data from across the region to better understand how COVID-19 affected intensive care services and inform future pandemic preparedness.

Seppälä will finish her phD at the Pandemic Centre UiB in 2026. This article is part of the thesis.