Sweden’s COVID Success: NO Lockdowns, They’re Doing SO MUCH BETTER Than Their European Nieghbors

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Sweden is proof that lockdowns don’t work. Worse, they did enormous damage.

An expert on the spread of Covid-19 proclaimed last week that the pandemic in Sweden was essentially over — the virus there was “running out of steam,” he said, as researchers suggest Swedes could be building immunity.

Such comments have emboldened governments. Other governments now are considering adopting Sweden’s “light-touch” approach, in the hope they can soften the blow to their economies.
There was reason for optimism when Kim Sneppen, from the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, made his comments. Sweden’s infection and death rates had been low for weeks, despite a second wave rolling over Europe. It seemed to mark a turnaround for the country, which experienced one of the highest death tolls in the world per capita during the spring.

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Even the New York Times has conceded on the truth: Vilified Early Over Lax Virus Strategy, Sweden Seems to Have Scourge Controlled

Sweden’s coronavirus success: How nation went OWN WAY to ‘lead fight against Covid-19’

A CORONAVIRUS vaccine may work but will need years to take effect if it does. Even in this best case scenario, Covid-19 will probably never be truly eradicated.

By Lucy Johnston in Stockholm, The Express, Oct 4, 2020:

With these beliefs, it may seem odd to find Anders Tegnell, the architect of Sweden’s lockdownfree approach to dealing with the pandemic, so optimistic. Or to see Stockholm in full swing, with open bars, live music and smiling, unmasked faces. That’s because state epidemiologist Mr Tegnell believes that so long as people are sensible, normal life can continue.

Health officials say they want to treat the Swedish people as “subjects, not objects” and use clear and sensible advice rather than threats to steer them through.

In fact, Mr Tegnell says, if any country was “following the science” – the phrase favoured by Boris Johnson – sense advice to alert its population.

Long-term lockdowns and facemasks are not the answer, he believes. “I can understand some countries situations were so bad they needed to do something drastic and it was tempting to lockdown,” he says.

“We were lucky we did not have to do this. But I think when we discuss what have been the best measures and what have been reasonable measures and what have been measures with more side-effects and measures with positive effects it is far too early to say.”

Unlike many countries, including the UK, Swedish schools remained open through the spring.

conference
Anders Tegnell talks to Lucy Johnston (Image: Jonathan Nackstrand)

“We knew there would be side-effects of closing schools – keeping them open is extremely important for children’s health,” he says. Karin Tegmark Wisell, head of the Department of Microbiology at Sweden’s public health agency, says voluntary compliance had been key, combined with “continual reports” from local authorities and solid communication.

“We thought it would be easier to be inclusive and treat people as subjects and not objects and felt this would work for a longer time,” she says. It was, she believes, important to gauge the impact on any measures on society as a whole and not just on Covid deaths.

“Any measures that we suggested strive to be based in science,” she says. “We decided it was important to have a one societal complete health care approach, not just an approach that looked at the consequences of the pandemic as such.

“We also had to think about, for example, children not going to school and the side-effects of a more severe lockdown.

“We had modellers estimating death numbers but we decided it was important to take in all aspects and bring in different discussions and research to make our assessments. It is hard to know where we will end up in a year or two on death rates and all-cause mortality. But we needed to think about the consequences of our actions and the side effects.”

Sweden has destroyed the case for lockdown

Predictions of mass death never came to pass. It’s now clear we can manage the virus without extreme measures.

By: Christopher Snowdon, Spiked, 1st October 2020

If you speak of the Swedish, no-lockdown approach to Covid-19 without disparagement, a horde of midwits will descend on you to say that, actually, Sweden has had a large number of Covid-related deaths compared to its immediate neighbours. Though you can explain that Sweden has had a lower death rate (per million people) than the UK, they will insist you only compare Sweden to the rest of Scandinavia.

But you don’t need to compare Sweden to any country to make the crucial observation that lockdowns are not necessary. Lockdowns were introduced because it was believed that they were the only way to prevent cases spiralling out of control, leading to most of the population being infected, health services being overwhelmed and 0.5 to one per cent of the population potentially dying of the disease.

This was not an unreasonable prediction when it was first made. The coronavirus is highly infectious and is several times more lethal than the flu. Case numbers were growing exponentially in March, as were deaths, and Neil Ferguson’s Imperial College model predicted over 250,000 deaths in Britain without lockdown, even with some social-distancing measures.

But when academics adapted Ferguson’s model to Sweden, it predicted 96,000 deaths by the end of June. Ferguson himself said on 25 April that Sweden’s daily deaths would ‘increase day by day. It is clearly a decision for the Swedish government whether it wishes to tolerate that.’

In fact, the daily number of deaths had already peaked by then – barely a week after they peaked in Britain – and the cumulative total currently stands at less than 6,000. When a prediction is so far off, it should command attention.

Let’s remember how the Swedish approach was reported at the time. A Guardian headline said on 30 March: ‘“They are leading us to catastrophe”: Sweden’s coronavirus stoicism begins to jar.’ The Sun on 1 April said Sweden’s ‘refusal to enter coronavirus lockdown leaving schools and pubs open “will lead to catastrophe”, doctors warn’. And Time magazine warned on 9 April that: ‘Sweden’s relaxed approach to the coronavirus could already be backfiring.’ The report also quoted a head doctor at a major hospital in Sweden saying ‘the current approach will “probably end in a historical massacre”’.

Various post-hoc justifications have been put forward for why things didn’t turn out as expected. Since none of them was mentioned by the doomsters back in March, you have to wonder whether this eagerness to show that there is something special and unique about Sweden reflects a genuine yearning for the truth or a pathological desire to promote lockdown at all costs.

The most stupid of these excuses is that Sweden has a low population density (59 people per square mile). Forgive me for insulting your intelligence but it seems some people need to hear this: Swedish people are not evenly spread out across the country. Scotland also has a low population density (65 people per square mile) because most of the country is wilderness. This has not stopped Glasgow becoming a Covid-19 hotspot.

The country with the highest per capita death rate from Covid is Peru, which has a population density only slightly higher than Sweden at 65 people per square mile. Brazil and Chile have also had more deaths per capita than Sweden, despite having low population densities of 65 and 60 people per square mile respectively. Like Sweden, these countries have vast areas in which nobody lives. There is no reason to think that this should help combat the coronavirus.

It is not as if everyone in Sweden lives in little villages, either: 88 per cent of Swedes live in urban areas. This compares with 84 per cent in the UK, 78 per cent in Peru and 81 per cent in Spain. Sweden is one of the most urbanised countries in Europe.

The second post-hoc explanation is that Swedes did actually lock down, but voluntarily. Unless you have a very loose definition of lockdown, this is simply untrue. This is a typical report from the Guardian in late March:

‘Outdoors, couples stroll arm in arm in the spring sunshine; Malmö’s café terraces do a brisk trade. On the beach and surrounding parkland at Sibbarp there were picnics and barbecues this weekend; the adjoining skate park and playground were rammed. No one was wearing a mask.’

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AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
3 years ago

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AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
3 years ago

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DemocracyRules
DemocracyRules
3 years ago

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felix1999
felix1999
3 years ago
Reply to  DemocracyRules

Then the IG can’t question him. A prosector could…..

AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
3 years ago

comment image

felix1999
felix1999
3 years ago

He may believe that resigning will save his sorry tush and not be indicted.

santashandler
santashandler
3 years ago

No matter how safe Sweden is, no matter how much they’ve escaped the horrors of covid, no matter how tiny the death toll is, the leftist media here in the U.S. will still spin this to make Sweden look like a reckless society. The media would actually love to see more deaths occurring in Sweden. This is one country that gets it. Bravo, Sweden!

Brian Ozzy
Brian Ozzy
3 years ago
Reply to  santashandler

Taiwan never locked down, everything stayed open. They do have to wear masks when outside but other than that life goes on and the government hasn’t bankrupted the country. So far they have had under ten deaths. Their population is around 26 million, the same as Australia, which has been under the most stringent of lock-downs, has had just over 800 deaths (90% in nursing homes) and has destroyed the country’s economy for decades to come. For what? Sweden and Taiwan have not followed the knee jerk reaction of the rest of the world and are laughing!

Mhmjjj2012
Mhmjjj2012
3 years ago
Reply to  Brian Ozzy

Taiwan…an island…started screening passengers on direct flights from Wuhan back in December then expanded the screening to flights from China, Hong Kong and Macao.
Taiwan also had effective testing and speedy contact tracing.
The U.S….under Trump took a different approach.
Remember the CDC’s botched February rollout of its testing?
Oh, and back in March and April people with COVID-19 symptoms couldn’t get tested because there weren’t enough tests available?
Well, people with symptoms who couldn’t get tested didn’t get contact traced.
Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been botched, ineffective and a crime against the American people.

Brian Ozzy
Brian Ozzy
3 years ago
Reply to  Mhmjjj2012

Rubbish. Trump initiated very early conditions and then ban on flights from China and shortly after from Europe. And he did it while the morons like Joe and Pelosi were guffawing at his witless knee-jerk reaction and calling him every scurrilous name they could come up with. Why was there inadequate PPE and testing equipment? Because Obama and his useless sidekick Biden after having a disastrous response to their corona virus emergency had allowed stocks to run down to a few out of date supplies and didn’t bother to replenish them. Once Trump found this out he moved extremely quickly to muscle a few larger companies to retool and start producing respirators and other needed equipment which they did in record time. He also pushed the drug industry to accelerate the search for a vaccine. He was not responsible for the chaotic and often ridiculous measures taken by the head of states, especially the Democrat ones. The ludicrous braying of idiots blaming President Trump for thousands of death is as absurd as it is unfair. Have they not noticed how virtually every other country is doing? Of course not, they are to busy feeding their TDS frenzy which I’ve noticed none of them can ever cogently explain the reason for.

Mhmjjj2012
Mhmjjj2012
3 years ago
Reply to  Brian Ozzy

What was essential for the U.S. to do was get accurate testing and timely contact tracing…neither happened…and still haven’t happened.
There still isn’t enough Personal Protection Equipment for health care workers never mind essential workers and everyone else.
Trump hasn’t provided consistent messaging to the American people about what steps they must take to protect themselves from a horrific respiratory illness that can cause long term debilitating symptoms like difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, fevers, just to name a few and permanent heart, lung and kidney damage.
I don’t care how other countries are doing with COVID-19.
I care about how this country is doing.
The buck stops on Trump’s desk.
Trump got fired by the voters because of his failed leadership.

Brian Ozzy
Brian Ozzy
3 years ago
Reply to  Mhmjjj2012

Accurate testing and contact tracing was the bailiwick of the governors and mayors of the various states, it was not Trump’s responsibility. Put the blame where it belongs and put your TDS aside for a moment. Every hospital and health care worker has had all the PPE they needed in a very short time once President Trump had rallied the resources to build up a supply chain and cover the shortages caused by Obama and dopey Joe not replenishing emergency stockpiles. Fauchi and Birx were responsible for setting standards and educating the populace on the virus, that’s why a president has lackeys as he can’t possibly do it all himself. Mainly only the elderly with co-morbidities needed protection as they comprise about 80% of the victims of covid, once again a task that most Governors and Mayors, especially Democratic ones, failed in miserably. America has had 250,000 odd deaths out of 332 Million people, a fairly insignificant number. I believe the total annual death figure for the USA is less than the last couple of years still. The world death figure is just over one million people out of 8000 million. A pitiful number to have destroyed the world economy and millions of businesses, livelihoods and lives for. 99.7% of people recover from the virus with many having few symptoms or mid to severe flu symptoms. Trump is possibly the best leader your country has ever had. I went from abhorrence to outright admiration for the improvements he made to American lives, despite unrelenting attacks for four years as the sore loser Democrats fought to overturn a legal and democratic election. Even their cheating wasn’t enough in 2016. Now Biden will try and return to the destructive, hateful, divisive and cringing Obama policies that nearly brought America down over his disastrous 8 years. I believe from all the evidence that if Biden wins it is through massively fraudulent means. And I’m not even an American just a very interested follower of what is happening.

felix1999
felix1999
3 years ago

Too bad Sweden doesn’t anything about the Muslim attacks on Jews there.

Mike Moss
Mike Moss
3 years ago

So how come Sweden had the most (ie very high compared to) covid-deaths? Doesn’t sound that successful..

CreoleGumbo
CreoleGumbo
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike Moss

The reality is more complex than that.
The pandemic is over in Sweden but still going on in the rest of Europe. We don’t yet know what the long term mortality will turn out to be when the rest of Europe catches up.

Don’t forget that the idea of locking down was never intended to affect the number of expected deaths but to “flatten(the early peak in) the curve.” Doing that was going to keep the total area under the curve (deaths) the same. The INTENTION of lockdowns was to PROLONG the pandemic and that is what happened.

Mike Moss
Mike Moss
3 years ago
Reply to  CreoleGumbo

Any evidence for that “intention to prolong the pandemic” ?

CreoleGumbo
CreoleGumbo
3 years ago
Reply to  Mike Moss

If you understand basic algebra and know that the intent was ONLY to flatten the curve and NOT to shorten the duration it would be clear that if the area under the curve were to remain the same that the duration would increase.

volksnut
volksnut
3 years ago

Has the common cold and flu been – completely – eradicated ? They’re all in the same family of viruses..and EVERY YEAR at the same time people get sick with them its accepted – some with weakened immune systems do succumb to them EVERY YEAR –

CreoleGumbo
CreoleGumbo
3 years ago
Reply to  volksnut

You beat me to the punch in saying this.
As I see it CV19 is a mutation of the common cold virus.
And the death toll is comparable to the usual death toll attributed to the common cold, which kills the elderly and chronically ill and soon to die anyway. But never before have we been given a daily running total of the deaths as the press chose to do this time and never before has the CDC instructed doctors to attribute deaths to something based on a “possibility” for which Medicare decided to boost payments.

CreoleGumbo
CreoleGumbo
3 years ago

Along the same line of issues is that Singapore, which locked down and did testing and contact tracing early, now has the largest number of cases reported daily.

Joseph111
Joseph111
3 years ago

.
C’mon Tucker!
.
democrats don’t pay attention to things like FACTS – remember, they rely on the ‘Science”, (aka anything that supports their point of view no matter how incorrect, unsupported or illogical it may be …
.
Regan was right – its not that democrats are ignorant, its just that they know so much about that which is not true …
.

minahanssen
minahanssen
3 years ago

So it’s December 2020 and their hospitals are full and their deaths soared and they closed schools and limit gathering to eight people and are considering a lockdown.

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