Sweden does not require face masks, those who wear describe hostility
- Sweden, which has a unique attitude to the pandemic, has no worm mandate.
- Those who wear face masks tell Insider that they are afraid or abused in public.
- One person said: “I have had people cough on me or imitate coughs on more occasions than I can count.”
Andreia Rodrigues left Sweden due to her COVID-19 response.
Rodrigues, who had lived in Sweden for more than four years, decided to return to her native Portugal in March and said she felt unsafe living in a country where the government had no rules on worm-bearing and where she was abused. when she did wear one.
“I could not bear it in Sweden anymore,” she told Insider.
She said her fiancé feared for her safety when she went out in a mask.
“I have made people laugh and point at me, people shouting ‘You should lock yourself in your home if you’re so afraid of corona’, people cough in my direction and then laugh and say, ‘Corona! Corona! “”
The Swedish Ministry of Health does not recommend masking as a preventive measure against the coronavirus.
The strategy is in contrast to most other countries, where mask wearing in indoor settings often remained a rule even when governments registered low case numbers.
Governments and researchers in places like the UK have said that masks are likely to be the last rule to change in their countries when they reopen.
And while the Swedish government tweaked its recommendations in January to ask people to wear masks under very specific circumstances, most of the country still does not and leaves those who feel excluded and insecure.
Sweden has long pursued a different strategy
Sweden has taken a unique approach to the pandemic. When other nations introduced lockdowns, Sweden had few rules, instead they focused on social distancing.
Its death toll rose much higher than the neighboring countries, despite the similar demographics of the population.
However, the death toll has been lower than many other European countries that were overwhelmed by the virus.
Experts pointed to unique aspects of Swedish life as the reasons for this, including the large number of people living alone and the population’s high confidence in the government, which indicates that people are likely to follow recommendations even without becoming formal rules.
Still, the country’s leader says it was a mistake: In December, Sweden’s Prime Minister said that some mistakes were made, and the king called coronavirus strategy “a failure”.
Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s epidemiologist sa in June last year that more measures were needed afterwards.
Some residents now say that they fear that Sweden will make similar mistakes with its worm strategy.
‘They would stare at me … shout at me, cough at me’
Jennifer Luetz, who originally comes from Germany, lives in Norrköping, near Stockholm. She told Insider that people “stared at me like I was an alien” when she started wearing a mask in February last year.
Luetz said she is in a risk group and is afraid of stopping wearing one.
She said she “turned to stare”.
But she said “what was terrible was the catcalls and the nasty comments, people laughed openly at you in the shops.” She also said she received xenophobic comments for wearing a mask.
Others, who said they wore masks to feel safer, described similar reactions.
A woman, who asked not to be named because she said it could jeopardize her husband’s job, told Insider that she got a funny look when she started wearing a mask in March 2020. Her identity is known to Insider.
“As the months went by, people became more aggressive. They would stare at me in anger, shout at me, cough at me. It was ridiculous and made me very angry,” she said.
Keith Begg, who lives in a suburb of Stockholm and campaigns for stricter coronavirus rules, said he has been subjected to “ongoing” abuse to wear a mask since April 2020.
He said it is less rare now, but there were many incidents: “Once I had the mask cut off by a group of teenagers who ran away. I have made people cough on me or imitate cough on more occasions than I can count”, sa han sa.
“You are still becoming a little aware of wearing a mask in Sweden because it is still not normalized.”
Another woman in Stockholm, who asked not to be named because she feared consequences from work, said she gets accusing looks from people when they wear a mask, and her children were enjoyed at school for wearing them.
Masks are hardly recommended
The Swedish Public Health Agency emphasizes many of the steps other countries are taking: Social distancing, working from home, washing your hands, getting vaccinated.
But masks are a remarkable absence.
The section “how to protect yourself” about the agency website does not mention facial coatings. Nor does its list recommendations to reduce the spread.
In January, ten months after a pandemic was declared, the agency added one recommendation – not a rule – that adults wear face masks on public transport.
And it’s just for rush hour: between 7:00 and 9:00, and 16:00 and 18:00, and only when they can not distance themselves from other people.
Most countries Fighting the virus has required masks indoors, and some European countries, such as Belgium and France, has the mandate to wear them outdoors.
Israel, which has the highest proportion of its population that is fully vaccinated, has only a restriction still in place: masks in enclosed public spaces.
The World Health Organization as well recommend that fully vaccinated people continue to wear masks.
But this is how Sweden has justified its alternative approach: Both Tegnell, the state epidemiologist, and Johan Carlson, head of the public health authority, has said that mask wearing can lead people to ignore other recommendations such as social distancing.
Swedes do not often have to wear masks
Insiders also spoke to people in Sweden who say that they only wear masks in accordance with the government’s guidelines.
Mazdak Dorosti, who works in a bank in Stockholm, said that he has worn a mask twice: in an Apple store and the dentist. He said the staff gave him a mask both times.
“I see people wearing masks in the subway and malls, but the majority of people do not wear a mask,” he said.
He said the government’s non-recommended masks meant “wearing a mask sent two conflicting messages, either the person was ill or the person was a bit paranoid.” He suggested that this means that people who wanted to wear masks did not do so.
Katarina Eckerberg said she and her family “wear masks in public places such as supermarkets, public transport, shopping malls, but not otherwise.”
“It is not mandatory but recommended and maybe half do it, half do not,” she said.
Cathy Xiao Chen, who helps lead a coworking space in Uppsala, told Insider: “I wear a mask when I take public transport. Some do, many do not.”
“People continue to invade each other’s personal space and ignore social distance recommendations,” he said.
‘I feel like I’m on another planet’
Sweden’s new worm recommendations seem to have had different effects around the country, but worm carriers are still not at ease.
Dorosti, who lives in Stockholm, said: “People felt more comfortable wearing a mask, without getting the judgmental look.”
At the same time, Begg, who lives in the city’s suburbs, said: “From my observations, I would say that between 15 and 20% carry them on public transport.” He said he believes less than 5% of people wear masks in the supermarket.
“The lack of awareness in Stockholm is quite astonishing and would be quite difficult to understand for many Europeans where the mask has become an important accessory,” he said.
Luetz said that the lack of masks means that “sometimes I feel like I’m on another planet”.
Rodrigues, who left Sweden in March, said she “began to see a very small increase in the number of people wearing masks” before she moved.
But she said that returning to Portugal has proved how different Sweden was.
“I think back to the time I spent there, for example, surrounded by hundreds of maskless people in the supermarket, and it feels unreal, like a past life.”