Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many countries across the globe, such as the United States, have started lockdowns in order to encourage social distancing and fight the virus. However, Sweden did not follow these measures: it has absolutely no lockdowns. At all.
Sweden chose to not go into lockdown or impose social-distancing policies. Instead, it rolled out voluntary/trust-based measures: it advised older people to avoid social contact and recommended that people work from home, and follow other safety measures such as washing their hands regularly and avoiding non-essential travel. However, borders and schools remain open, as well as businesses (including public spaces such as restaurants and bars.)
In an interview with Anders Tegnell, the epidemiologist behind Sweden’s coronavirus strategy, he stated that “closing borders, in my opinion, is ridiculous, because COVID-19 is in every European country now. We have more concerns about movement inside Sweden.”
This Swedish model has faced many critics. 22 scientists last week wrote in the Swedish newspaper, known as Dagens Nyheter, that the public health authorities had failed, and pleaded politicians to step in with stricter measures.
Sweden has, today, 17,567 cases of coronavirus confirmed and 2,152 deaths.
When asked about Sweden’s high number of deaths due to Coronavirus, the epidemiologist stated: “There has been an increase, but it is not traumatic so far.”
