Sweden's top epidemiologist has admitted his strategy to fight COVID-19 resulted in too many deaths, after persuading his country to avoid a strict lockdown.
"If we were to encounter the same illness with the same knowledge that we have today, I think our response would land somewhere in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done," Anders Tegnell said in an interview with Swedish Radio.
Gatherings of more than 50 people continue to be banned, but throughout the crisis Swedes have been able to visit restaurants, go shopping, attend gyms and send children under 16 to school.
The laxer approach to containing the virus has drawn both praise and indignation from across the globe. What is beyond debate, however, is the effect the strategy has had on the country's death toll.
At 43 deaths per 100,000, Sweden's death rate is among the highest globally and far exceeds that of neighbouring Denmark and Norway, which imposed much tougher lockdowns at the outset of the pandemic.
Now, Tegnell has for the first time admitted publicly that the strategy is resulting in too many deaths.
What's more, there's so far limited evidence that Sweden's decision to leave much of its society open will support the economy. Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson recently warned that
Sweden is facing its worst economic crisis since World War II, with GDP set to slump 7per cent in 2020, roughly as much as the rest of the EU.The government has started to grow concerned at the apparent missteps taken to fight the spread of the virus in Sweden. On Monday, Lofven promised there'd be an inquiry into the handling of the crisis before the summer.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/man-behind-sweden-s-controversial-coronaviru...