Sweden has now dropped to 43rd in the number of total confirmed cases of Wuhan-19 per 1 million population. This will continue to drop as we go on.
The state of Michigan has 125 more deaths per 1 million population and 4800 more total confirmed cases per 1 million population than Sweden. Both Michigan and Sweden have populations of around 10 million. Michigan severely locked down.---Sweden did not.
But GWB would tell you that diet differences, weather, TV shows, the number of stray cats on the street, and the fact that the Swedish Chef from the muppets wasn't the "Michigan Chef" means you cant compare the two countries. You can only compare Sweden with countries that have better numbers...err....are next door. Oh, and Sweden has those tasty candy fishes. Michigan doesn't.
Not sure why you continue responding to that guy that has an obsession with San Diego's beaches while refusing to disclose why. Canada is clearly outperforming the United States in its Covid-19 performance. In fact, considering most of us Quebecers are screwing up most of Canada's performance statistics... Canada could be on the same level as Denmark and Finland. Yet, regardless to all the above...South Korea is outperforming everybody while the herd immunity idiots or anti-lockdown idiots continue stating Sweden is the best model for the world... Cleverly forgetting that South Korea also did not do a lockdown. South Korea still has one of the best healthcare systems in the world and a culture that habitually wears face masks for many years already because of pollution problems. I lived in Seoul, Korea a few years in the 90's...face mask wearing was very common then and more common today because of the pollution even without a Pandemic. South Korea's healthcare system is more suitable for dealing with infectious diseases and they have excellent contract tracing to help minimize the spread. Also, look closely at Brazil below. They too did not lockdown and only did a lockdown lite like Sweden. Therefore, the issue is not about a lockdown but more about the re-opening, cultural habits and contact tracing. Sweden is doing good but there are others doing much better and that did not lockdown (e.g. South Korea) and others that did lockdown are doing better than Sweden (e.g. Finland). The good thing for Canada...Québec has now rolled out an app about 2 days ago for contact tracing. I've been testing it and its very good. Others that have downloaded the app...over 3 million so far. Actually, I thought it would not work for me here in Québec considering my cell phone carrier is out of South Dakota (United States). Hopefully, things will stabilize here in Québec now that the government is back on track again. Yet, the culture here in Québec is still too kissy face. Thus, its tough to break cultural habits even during a Pandemic. Then again...maybe not because this weekend is the Thanksgiving holiday for us Quebecers. A lot of families will be together...too many people sticking with tradition even during a Pandemic. Yet, Quebec Premier Francois Legault has recently been pleading with Quebecers to cancel thanksgiving or have it only with those with family members from the same household. Covid-19 Deaths Covid-19 Confirmed Infections wrbtrader
Total Sweden Cases 97,532 +569 Recovered - Deaths 5,892 Death Rate, Sweden 6%; Death Rate, Michigan 5%; Death Rate, U.S. 3% (unreliable) ; Death Rate, Taiwan 1% (highly reliable)
Op-Ed: The Sweden Myth — How did the country outperform everybody on COVID-19? That's easy -- it didn't https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/89017 You've heard it countless times: Sweden kept its COVID-19 curve flat without lockdowns or other major restrictions, and without damaging its economy. The U.S. and other countries should follow its lead, we're told. Baloney. Let's take a look at those claims, along with how Sweden really did in comparison with the U.S. and other nations: "It kept its death rate down." Not really, no matter how you look at it. Case fatality rate? 6.1%, versus 2.8% in the U.S. (the White House likes this statistic because it makes us look relatively good). But that's a poor metric for international comparisons, since it's driven not only by cause-of-death identification, but also by policies on testing that vary markedly by country. How about COVID-19 deaths per million population? It's 582 in Sweden, not much better than the 596 in Italy, despite that country's early horror, and only somewhat better than the U.S.'s 650. Sweden has the world's 14th worst rate of COVID deaths (out of 214) on the basis of population. Sweden's neighbors, meanwhile, imposed more restrictions on people and businesses and their death rates have been far lower. "Sweden didn't shut schools and businesses." Yes and no. Restaurants and bars were allowed to remain open, but only fo rcustomers seated at tables or bar counters (i.e., no standing and drinking), and were required to take other steps to maintain distancing. Soccer matches continued but with no fans allowed, and a plan to reopen stadiums was pulled back this week. High schools were closed for in-person learning until August, as were colleges and universities, and the latter have mostly reopened with a mix of online and in-person classes. "The country's economy didn't suffer like others' have." Sorry, Sweden took a big economic hit just like everyone else. Its gross domestic product declined 8.3% in Q2 versus Q1; in the U.S., our GDP fell 9.0% over the same period. (Numbers for Q3 aren't out yet.) Sweden's unemployment rate went up 2.2 percentage points from February to August, albeit less than the 4.9-point gain seen in the U.S.-- a difference that, in part, also reflects the two countries' dissimilar economic models. "Nobody has to wear a mask in Sweden." True. So what? Since the country has performed worse than most in keeping its death toll down, one could argue that was a big mistake. (The Swedish health ministry still maintains that "the scientific evidence around the effectiveness of face masks in combatting the spread of infection is unclear," in a statement last updated in August.) It's also worth noting that, while Sweden in general has issued fewer mandates than some other nations and U.S. states, the government has consistently and loudly pushed the need for voluntary social distancing, and its leaders have not ever made light of COVID-19's seriousness or suggested it would just go away on its own, unlike some we could name. One point in Sweden's favor is that while new cases haven't gone away (about 500 per day recently, up noticeably from a nadir in early September, and more than twice per capita than in the U.S.), it has been reporting just one or two deaths most days since late July. That's a (very crude) case fatality rate of 0.4%, versus about 1.75% in the U.S. on the same basis. Reasons for the difference aren't clear. Sweden's testing policy focuses on symptomatic cases and contact tracing. While the latter is considerably more robust than in the U.S., thus increasing the number of asymptomatic cases diagnosed, it wouldn't explain the fourfold discrepancy in case fatality. Perhaps Swedish healthcare is generally superior; or its COVID death toll is undercounted; or Americans are unhealthier overall; or the COVID deniers' favorite, the U.S. overcounts deaths. Data on excess deaths, however, indicate the lethality gap is real. Maybe someday we won't need to guess at why.
Sweden is prepared for the future. That's why they are back to normal. Most other countries are not ready.
"Back to normal" LOL Most countries on the face of the earth have closed their borders to travelers from Sweden. These same countries are happy to accept travelers from New Zealand -- which instituted a proper virus response based on best public health practices.