In the Coronavirus Fight in Scandinavia, Sweden Stands Apart

Discussion in 'Politics' started by wildchild, Mar 30, 2020.

  1. gwb-trading

    gwb-trading


    Sweden is too busy preparing its lockdowns to really care what you think. They recognize now that their early response was a complete disaster.

    Sweden is moving away from its no-lockdown strategy and preparing strict new rules amid rising coronavirus cases

    https://www.businessinsider.com/swe...wn-strategy-amid-growing-case-numbers-2020-10
    • Sweden's health officials are set to unveil strict new coronavirus rules for local regions to impose.
    • The country opted against lockdown measures in response to the first wave of the pandemic.
    • Growing case numbers in areas like the cities of Stockholm and Uppsala, however, have prompted a rethink.
    • Authorities in the worst-affected areas are set to have the power to strongly recommend people to avoid public transport, busy public places, and contact with those considered most vulnerable.
    After opting against lockdown measures throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Sweden is said to be shifting strategies toward the kinds of restrictive measures adopted by most of its neighbors.

    Anders Tegnell, Sweden's state epidemiologist, is set to meet with local health officials over the next week to discuss new measures to introduce in response to outbreaks in Stockholm and the nearby city of Uppsala, The Telegraph reported.

    Unlike its Nordic neighbors and most other countries, Sweden did not deploy wholesale lockdown measures in response to the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.

    Instead, the government led by Prime Minister Stefan Lofven allowed shops, bars, and restaurants to remain mostly open and students to attend school.

    Sweden has recorded a much higher per capita death rate than its neighbors since adopting this strategy. It had recorded 5,918 deaths as of Sunday, compared with 278 in Norway and 346 in Finland.

    Dr. Joacim Rocklov of Umea University told The Telegraph that after being an outlier earlier in the year, Sweden was shifting to a strategy closer to those adopted by most other governments.

    It will give local authorities the power to strongly recommend people to avoid busy public places like shopping centers, museums, gyms, concerts, and sports matches. Swedes may also be asked to avoid public transport and contact with those considered most vulnerable to severe infection.

    "What's happened in the last couple of weeks is a movement towards a similar model to what has been used in Norway and many other countries," he said. "It's very obvious that it's a new strategy, but still, the newspapers report on 'the Swedish strategy' as if it were fixed in March."

    Johan Nojd, who heads Uppsala's infectious-diseases department, suggested that he would be prepared to introduce harsher restrictions for the city like new rules for hospitality if the number of cases in the city continued to grow.

    "Perhaps tomorrow we will have several talking about concerts or restaurants and then perhaps one could say, 'In Uppsala now for two or three weeks it is the Public Health Agency's advice not to sit in restaurants late at night,'" he told The Telegraph.

    Unlike in other countries, however, there are not expected to be fines or legal consequences for people who decide not to follow any new advice. Bitte Brastad, the chief legal officer at Sweden's public-health agency, said the rules were "something in between regulations and recommendations."

    Tegnell this week said the level of immunity in Sweden's cities was not as high as the health officials had recently believed.

    "I think the obvious conclusion is that the level of immunity in those cities is not at all as high as we have, as maybe some people have believed," he said.

    "I think what we are seeing is very much a consequence of the very heterogeneous spread that this disease has, which means that even if you feel like there have been a lot of cases in some big cities, there are still huge pockets of people who have not been affected yet."
     
    #1291     Oct 19, 2020
  2. Nine_Ender

    Nine_Ender

    Border closing to Americans was extended today. I don't think the slingshot effect will occur; Toronto for example totally flattened the curve when the Southern US states more then "exploded" with infections. He has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the difference between US and Canada infection and death rates the whole pandemic.
     
    #1292     Oct 19, 2020
    wrbtrader likes this.
  3. wrbtrader

    wrbtrader

    Glad to hear they've extended that border closure.

    Montréal has been a problematic area for violators to enter Canada.

    Edit - Border closure extended to November 21st @ https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coron...remain-closed-until-nov-21-at-least-1.5150865

    I prefer to see it extended to at least beyond the United States Thanksgiving because there's traditionally a lot of border travel between the U.S. and Canada for the U.S. Thanksgiving holidays in comparison to less travel between the borders for Canada's Thanksgiving holidays.

    wrbtrader
     
    #1293     Oct 19, 2020
  4. jem

    jem

    We all agree their early response was a disaster.
    They experienced a lot of deaths before they locked down the old folks homes.
    Tegnall has acknowledged that for months.




     
    #1294     Oct 19, 2020
  5. jem

    jem

    you are so full of shit.
    I keep telling you the US screwed up too.
    Why do you keep lying about that?

    You are such a moron.

    ==
    But if you look at the graphs of infections in Florida and Texas vs Canada...

    Canada is well passed their peak infections from the spring...
    Almost twice as many in Canada as before the shutdown.


    Texas and Florida are well below their peak... looks like half as many or fewer.

    Of course that could change.




     
    #1295     Oct 19, 2020
  6. Nine_Ender

    Nine_Ender

    What a pointless observation you have made here. You are the king of morons. The "leftists" are ruining your life again aren't they :).
     
    #1296     Oct 19, 2020
  7. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    In all seriousness, what is going on in Canada? Weren't you telling us over and over again how they did the right thing and took care of this virus business?


    upload_2020-10-19_15-52-13.png
     
    #1297     Oct 19, 2020
    jem likes this.
  8. gwb-trading

    gwb-trading

    On a per capita basis Canada is looking a lot better than Florida.
     
    #1298     Oct 19, 2020
  9. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    So we can't compare Italy to Sweden, but we can compare Florida to Canada.
     
    #1299     Oct 19, 2020
    BeautifulStranger and jem like this.
  10. gwb-trading

    gwb-trading

    The U.S. and Canada are direct neighbors. Considering Florida is so much warmer than Canada and has so many people outdoors. You would think that Florida would be doing much better in addressing COVID than Canada -- but this is not true. You would think that with all the Canadians that go to Florida each winter that the southern state would learn something about handling coronavirus from them.
     
    #1300     Oct 19, 2020