The Swedish government has not suspended PCR testing to identify COVID-19.
The false claim appeared in May on Facebook and Instagram with a screenshot that reads: “Sweden stops using PCR tests. The PCR technology cannot distinguish between viruses capable of infecting cells and viruses that have been neutralised by the immune system and therefore these tests cannot be used to determine whether someone is contagious” (here , here).
Similar statements emerged on Twitter, with popular tweets alleging Sweden stopped using PCR tests because they were “not fit for purpose” (here) and “provided no benefit” (here).
Many of these posts included a screenshot or link to a blog from a website describing itself as “Facebook without the Censorship and ‘Fact Checkers’”(here). The headline of the blog reads: “Sweden stops using PCR tests”; however, the body of the text does not support this title.