Leading Swedish virologist Anders Tegnell, who advocated the lifting of strict restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic in favor of a mass immunity strategy, accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of misinterpreting data on COVID-19 situation in the country, Daily Mail reported.

WHO has included Sweden in the list of 11 countries seeing a “dangerous resurgence” of COVID-19.

According to the expert, the WHO 'totally misinterpreted' the data. He explained that the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past week is linked to more tests performed.

Tegnell referred to a fall in deaths, hospital admissions, and ICU admissions as evidence that the outbreak in Sweden is retreating.

Sweden's refusal to impose strict restrictions amid the COVID-19 has been widely discussed. The country has recorded 68 390 COVID-19 cases, while the death toll has reached 5,230.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the total number of COVID-19 cases globally has reached 9,588,717. The death toll is 488,842.