- Joined
- Mar 31, 2020
- Messages
- 9,153
- Points
- 113
Sweden Imposes Restrictions as Covid-19 Pandemic Worsens
By Aidan McLaughlinDec 7th, 2020, 1:52 pm
Stockholm, Sweden. Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images.
The controversial Swedish model for dealing with Covid-19, which relied on voluntary measures instead of mandatory restrictions to fight the pandemic, has been abandoned, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
The new strategy comes as Sweden’s death toll surpassed 7,000 last week, a steep number compared to its Nordic neighbors (Denmark, Finland and Norway have recorded 878, 415 and 354 deaths respectively). The current infection rate in Sweden (346 per 100,000) is more than double that of Germany, Britain and Spain.
“Authorities chose a strategy totally different to the rest of Europe, and because of it the country has suffered a lot in the first wave,” Stockholm physician Piotr Nowak told the Journal. “We have no idea how they failed to predict the second wave.”
Sweden had previously implemented lockdown measures in November amid a surge in cases and deaths, indicating that the country was moving away from a previous laissez-faire strategy that earned praise from lockdown skeptics and proponents of so-called herd immunity.
Now the country is embracing many of the restrictions long implemented by its neighbors. Last month, gatherings of more than eight people were banned. On Monday, high schools closed and the sale of alcohol was banned in bars, restaurants and clubs after 10 p.m.
By Aidan McLaughlinDec 7th, 2020, 1:52 pm
Stockholm, Sweden. Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images.
The controversial Swedish model for dealing with Covid-19, which relied on voluntary measures instead of mandatory restrictions to fight the pandemic, has been abandoned, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
The new strategy comes as Sweden’s death toll surpassed 7,000 last week, a steep number compared to its Nordic neighbors (Denmark, Finland and Norway have recorded 878, 415 and 354 deaths respectively). The current infection rate in Sweden (346 per 100,000) is more than double that of Germany, Britain and Spain.
“Authorities chose a strategy totally different to the rest of Europe, and because of it the country has suffered a lot in the first wave,” Stockholm physician Piotr Nowak told the Journal. “We have no idea how they failed to predict the second wave.”
Sweden had previously implemented lockdown measures in November amid a surge in cases and deaths, indicating that the country was moving away from a previous laissez-faire strategy that earned praise from lockdown skeptics and proponents of so-called herd immunity.
Now the country is embracing many of the restrictions long implemented by its neighbors. Last month, gatherings of more than eight people were banned. On Monday, high schools closed and the sale of alcohol was banned in bars, restaurants and clubs after 10 p.m.