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Covid-19
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What problems has the virus (COVID-19) created in Sweden? That is, political, economic and social.
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In short, they have had and will see far far fewer problems than here.
Sweden has coped with the outbreak with a lot less hysteria than we have. They have had very little in the way of “lockdown”. Most schools are open; bars, restaurants and shops have continued trading; only senior schools/universities have been closed and gatherings of more than 50 are prohibited. Here’s a report from another forum I use from somebody in Stockholm:
"I've been in Stockholm for basically the entire outbreak (I was in the UK at the start of March when it had barely begun) and what is most striking is how calm everything has been.
Today, if you didn't read the news at all, you wouldn't know anything unusual was happening - apart from screens protecting staff just in the grocery stores, and notices to keep distance and very few people wearing masks - maybe you'd assume there was a bad 'flu outbreak.
What is noticeable as well is that services have continued as normal, so evidently there aren't a lot of people at home sick.
Obviously because the restrictions have been measured, there's no agonising over what to open, as most things weren't shut anyway. All that's left is the "biggies" - international travel (Sweden hasn't shut its border but advises against travelling abroad and right now it's simply difficult to do anyway) and mass gatherings of people at sports matches, events, etc.
While the deaths are of course sad, they are absolutely nowhere near some of the wilder predictions: that it would be worse than the Spanish Flu, etc. Because the media has focused so much on death figures, I think people lack perspective of what the death numbers mean when taken in context - for example, around 90,000 people die in Sweden every year anyway (I don't know what the figure is for the UK?).
With the overwhelming majority of healthy people getting through this with no, mild, or at worst quite rough symptoms at home, one can only conclude that pre-existing human resistance to this is much much better than was predicted by many."
Sweden has coped with the outbreak with a lot less hysteria than we have. They have had very little in the way of “lockdown”. Most schools are open; bars, restaurants and shops have continued trading; only senior schools/universities have been closed and gatherings of more than 50 are prohibited. Here’s a report from another forum I use from somebody in Stockholm:
"I've been in Stockholm for basically the entire outbreak (I was in the UK at the start of March when it had barely begun) and what is most striking is how calm everything has been.
Today, if you didn't read the news at all, you wouldn't know anything unusual was happening - apart from screens protecting staff just in the grocery stores, and notices to keep distance and very few people wearing masks - maybe you'd assume there was a bad 'flu outbreak.
What is noticeable as well is that services have continued as normal, so evidently there aren't a lot of people at home sick.
Obviously because the restrictions have been measured, there's no agonising over what to open, as most things weren't shut anyway. All that's left is the "biggies" - international travel (Sweden hasn't shut its border but advises against travelling abroad and right now it's simply difficult to do anyway) and mass gatherings of people at sports matches, events, etc.
While the deaths are of course sad, they are absolutely nowhere near some of the wilder predictions: that it would be worse than the Spanish Flu, etc. Because the media has focused so much on death figures, I think people lack perspective of what the death numbers mean when taken in context - for example, around 90,000 people die in Sweden every year anyway (I don't know what the figure is for the UK?).
With the overwhelming majority of healthy people getting through this with no, mild, or at worst quite rough symptoms at home, one can only conclude that pre-existing human resistance to this is much much better than was predicted by many."
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Actually Sweden's death rate relative to its size, although better than the UK figure, is higher than you might think given that it's often quoted as a success story. See the deaths per million population figures for Europe. Ignoring the tiny countries:
Belgium 808
Spain 580
UK 552
Italy 547
France 438
Sweden 418
….
Germany 102
Germany's record is far better than Sweden's
Actually Sweden's death rate relative to its size, although better than the UK figure, is higher than you might think given that it's often quoted as a success story. See the deaths per million population figures for Europe. Ignoring the tiny countries:
Belgium 808
Spain 580
UK 552
Italy 547
France 438
Sweden 418
….
Germany 102
Germany's record is far better than Sweden's
Another point worth adding is that there aren't that many signs of new cases in Sweden slowing down significantly, and the number of reported deaths is only on a shallow downwards trend. I haven't yet got around to trying to fit to the data in Sweden so I wouldn't wish to speculate further, but on a purely health-based assessment the Swedish response has been far from effective.
//The equivalent deaths figure for the UK in recent years (2010-2019) was a little over 600,000 pa, NewJudge//
Yes, thanks, f-f. I know. It was the chap in Sweden whose report I quoted who didn’t know.
//See the deaths per million population figures for Europe.//
Deaths are not a good measure on how effective or otherwise the lockdown has been (which is what the debate between Sweden and UK really is). It’s the infection rate. The UK has about 6.5 times the population of Sweden. But it has about 7.6 times the number of cases (assuming the measurement technique is similar). It was over 8.0 up to about ten days ago. Sweden’s mortality rate (deaths/infections) is actually better than the UK’s (11.9% as against 14.1%).
//Another point worth adding is that there aren't that many signs of new cases in Sweden slowing down significantly,//
That’s perfectly true. Ever since the seven day average hit 500 on 9th April it has remained between 500 and 600 almost continuously, with only one or two days above or below that range. I think Sweden is likely to see a consistent rate of new infections for some time (whilst the UK’s definitely seems to be on a downward trend). But the big, big difference is that their economy cannot have taken anything like the hit that the UK’s has and, as my correspondent said, they don’t have too many decisions to take about what to open and when, because very little closed.
Yes, thanks, f-f. I know. It was the chap in Sweden whose report I quoted who didn’t know.
//See the deaths per million population figures for Europe.//
Deaths are not a good measure on how effective or otherwise the lockdown has been (which is what the debate between Sweden and UK really is). It’s the infection rate. The UK has about 6.5 times the population of Sweden. But it has about 7.6 times the number of cases (assuming the measurement technique is similar). It was over 8.0 up to about ten days ago. Sweden’s mortality rate (deaths/infections) is actually better than the UK’s (11.9% as against 14.1%).
//Another point worth adding is that there aren't that many signs of new cases in Sweden slowing down significantly,//
That’s perfectly true. Ever since the seven day average hit 500 on 9th April it has remained between 500 and 600 almost continuously, with only one or two days above or below that range. I think Sweden is likely to see a consistent rate of new infections for some time (whilst the UK’s definitely seems to be on a downward trend). But the big, big difference is that their economy cannot have taken anything like the hit that the UK’s has and, as my correspondent said, they don’t have too many decisions to take about what to open and when, because very little closed.
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