• Home
  • City
    • ALBANIA
    • AMSTERDAM
    • ANDORRA
    • ANNECY
    • ANTWERP
    • ATHENS
    • AUSTRIA
    • AVIGNON
    • BARCELONA
    • BELARUS
    • BELGIUM
    • BERLIN
    • BILBAO
    • BORDEAUX
    • BRNO
    • BRUSSELS
    • BUDAPEST
    • BULGARIA
    • CAEN
    • CALAIS
    • CROATIA
    • CZECH_REPUBLIC
    • DEBRECEN
    • DENMARK
    • DIJON
    • DUBLIN
    • ESTONIA
    • FINLAND
    • FLORENCE
    • FRANKFURT
    • GENEVA
    • GENOA
    • GERMANY
    • GLASGOW
    • GREECE
    • HANNOVER
    • HELSINKI
    • HUNGARY
    • ICELAND
    • INNSBRUCK
    • IRELAND
    • ISTANBUL
    • KRAKOW
    • LIECHTENSTEIN
    • LILLE
    • LIMERICK
    • LISBOA
    • LITHUANIA
    • LONDON
    • LUXEMBOURG
    • LYON
europe-cities.com
  • Home
  • City
    • ALBANIA
    • AMSTERDAM
    • ANDORRA
    • ANNECY
    • ANTWERP
    • ATHENS
    • AUSTRIA
    • AVIGNON
    • BARCELONA
    • BELARUS
    • BELGIUM
    • BERLIN
    • BILBAO
    • BORDEAUX
    • BRNO
    • BRUSSELS
    • BUDAPEST
    • BULGARIA
    • CAEN
    • CALAIS
    • CROATIA
    • CZECH_REPUBLIC
    • DEBRECEN
    • DENMARK
    • DIJON
    • DUBLIN
    • ESTONIA
    • FINLAND
    • FLORENCE
    • FRANKFURT
    • GENEVA
    • GENOA
    • GERMANY
    • GLASGOW
    • GREECE
    • HANNOVER
    • HELSINKI
    • HUNGARY
    • ICELAND
    • INNSBRUCK
    • IRELAND
    • ISTANBUL
    • KRAKOW
    • LIECHTENSTEIN
    • LILLE
    • LIMERICK
    • LISBOA
    • LITHUANIA
    • LONDON
    • LUXEMBOURG
    • LYON

SWEDEN

Sweden’s distinctive covid strategy is nearing an end as lockdown suggests

Sugar Mizzy January 7, 2021

Sweden’s coronavirus strategy has always stood out from the crowd. The distinctive approach is now coming to an end.

This week, the government proposed an emergency law that would make it possible to lock in large sections of society; the first recommended use of face masks came into force; and the authorities gave schools the opportunity to close to students over the age of 13 – any changes to its strategy to combat the pandemic.

“I do not think Sweden stands out [from the rest of the world] very much right now, ”says Jonas Ludvigsson, professor of clinical epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. “Most things that made Sweden different have changed – either in Sweden or elsewhere.”

There has been no public outcry about its approach – which attracted much international attention for its lack of formal suspension and use of face masks. Instead, there has been a gradual change in various policies because the winter covid-19 wave has hit Sweden much harder than health authorities or politicians expected.

Sweden has reported more than 2,000 deaths of covid-19 in one month and 535 in the last eight days alone. This can be compared with 465 for the pandemic as a whole in neighboring Norway, which has half the population. As King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf said just before Christmas: “We have failed.”

King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf updates the public on the coronavirus on national television © AFP via Getty Images

Public confidence in the Swedish government and various authorities has been strained after several reports about ministers – including Prime Minister Stefan Löfven who has been criticized for Christmas shopping – seem to have violated their own guidelines on how to behave.

Dan Eliasson, head of the Civil Contingencies Agency, resigned this week after visiting his daughter in the Canary Islands over Christmas, despite authorities sending a nationwide text message just days earlier, warning of all unnecessary travel.

“It is a problem. What is special about this country is that they trust people. I think the government has not understood the seriousness of this disease,” said Claudia Hanson, senior lecturer in global public health at Karolinska. Ludvigsson added: “I am fear that it will reduce compliance with recommendations. “

Karin Tegmark Wisell, head of the microbiology department at the Swedish public health authority, which has played a large part in the country’s policy, insisted that it was “a hallmark of the strategy that when the degree of infection rises that we adapt our response”.

Recommended

She added that the behavior of ministers, members of parliament and officials such as Eliasson was a “difficult issue” that could affect the confidence of individuals but also provoke a broader public debate about what was accepted or not.

However, there is little doubt that Sweden’s approach has changed subtly in recent weeks. On Monday, the center-left government in Stockholm adopted an emergency law that will enter into force on Sunday, which gives it the power to close shops, gyms and public transport if deemed necessary.

Hanson said that the mystery with Sweden was why the government was so reluctant to react, and largely handed over the policy to the public health authority. “They could have changed the law a long time ago. All countries had to introduce new laws to deal with the pandemic, she added.

A healthcare professional disinfects an ambulance near Stockholm © Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP via Getty Images

Swedish health authorities also long opposed the use of face masks, claiming that there was little evidence that they helped reduce the degree of infection and some concern that they could make people relax on more important measures such as keeping their distance and hand hygiene. But from Thursday, face masks are necessary during rush hour on public transport, even if there will be no sanctions for not wearing them.

High schools for 16-19-year-olds that have closed since the beginning of December will remain so until at least January 24. This week, the public health authority gave upper secondary schools for 13-16-year-olds the opportunity to close if necessary – but added that the standard setting should be to remain open.

Ludvigsson said that it was not one-way traffic, with much of Europe moving towards Sweden’s position on certain issues, not least the importance of keeping primary schools open when many nations closed them during the first coronavirus wave. He added that most countries had also changed their goal from defeating the virus to mitigating it, which has always been Sweden’s official policy.

This is in line with the position Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, outlined for the Financial Times last month when he claimed that Sweden and Europe came to a unified approach. “We’re doing more and more of the same thing,” he said.

Far from everyone is convinced that Sweden’s distinctive approach completely explains its significantly higher death rate for its Nordic neighbors, who have similar population densities and cultures. Many in Sweden point to Belgium, which has closed twice but has far higher deaths per capita covid-19.

Ludvigsson said that more research is needed on why some countries were hit harder by the virus: “People have explained 100 percent of a country’s success or failure based on its policies. But I’m sure there are other underlying factors that affect how the virus took hold in some places more than others. ”

Related Posts

SWEDEN /

Sweden, Finland committed to join NATO at the same time

SWEDEN /

Sweden has become a gangster’s paradise – and a case study in how not to integrate migrants

SWEDEN /

Senators urge Biden to delay sale of F-16 jets to Turkey until Finland and Sweden are admitted to NATO

‹ Voco™ Hotels opens in Strasbourg, France › Sweden tightens COVID rules, but still no lockdown

Recent Posts

  • Heavy snowfall on the mountains overnight to Monday in Northern Norway – Address
  • When the pasta came to Norway: – We thought it was a vegetable – forskning.no
  • Subwoolfer takes off his masks for the first time | Universal Music Norway – NTB Communications
  • Northern Norway: Average price for electricity of 34.9 øre per kWh Sunday – Address
  • New spy balloon observed over South America – NRK Norway … – NRK

Categories

  • ALBANIA
  • AMSTERDAM
  • ANDORRA
  • ANNECY
  • ANTWERP
  • ATHENS
  • AUSTRIA
  • AVIGNON
  • BARCELONA
  • BELARUS
  • BELGIUM
  • BILBAO
  • BORDEAUX
  • BRNO
  • BRUSSELS
  • BUDAPEST
  • BULGARIA
  • CAEN
  • CALAIS
  • City
  • COLOGNE
  • COPENHAGEN
  • CORK
  • CROATIA
  • CZECH_REPUBLIC
  • DEBRECEN
  • DENMARK
  • DIJON
  • ESTONIA
  • FINLAND
  • FLORENCE
  • FRANKFURT
  • GENEVA
  • GENOA
  • GREECE
  • HELSINKI
  • HUNGARY
  • ICELAND
  • INNSBRUCK
  • ISTANBUL
  • KRAKOW
  • LIECHTENSTEIN
  • LISBOA
  • LITHUANIA
  • LUXEMBOURG
  • LYON
  • MALTA
  • MARSEILLE
  • MILAN
  • MOLDOVA
  • MONACO
  • MUNICH
  • NAPLES
  • NETHERLANDS
  • NICE
  • NORWAY
  • PARIS
  • PISA
  • POLAND
  • PORTUGAL
  • PRAGUE
  • ROME
  • ROUEN
  • RUSSIA
  • SALZBURG
  • SAN_MARINO
  • SIENA
  • SLOVAKIA
  • SLOVENIA
  • STRASBOURG
  • SWEDEN
  • SWITZERLAND
  • THESSALONIKI
  • TOULOUSE
  • TURKEY
  • UK_ENGLAND
  • UKRAINE
  • VENICE
  • VERONA
  • VIENNA
  • WARSAW
  • ZURICH

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • November 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • September 2008
  • June 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2007
  • January 2002
  • January 1970

↑