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Sweden has avoided a COVID-19 lockdown so far: Has its strategy worked?

On: March 2, 2021

In: News

Yet as with so much of the data relating to COVID-19, proponents of the policy say that reading the data is a matter of perspective. Sweden may be faring comparably better in terms of excess deaths -- those greater than the usual number of deaths expected in a certain time period. Experts say excess deaths can indicate whether policies intended to combat the pandemic have unintended consequences, such as delaying treatment for other ailments and is an important measure of the overall efficacy of policy. While still performing worse than other Nordic countries on data from Eurostat, the official European Union statistics agency, and the University of Oxford, shows that Sweden recorded 7.9% excess deaths last year compared to the years 2016-19, according to the independent health news site Dagens Medicin. That means that the country had the 23rd lowest annual excess deaths out of 30 European countries -- lower than the U.K. (15.1%), France (10.4%) and Spain (18.9%). Sweden also has a lower number of coronavirus deaths per million than those countries, all of which have gone under strict lockdowns during the pandemic. Pointing to the recent excess mortality studies, Nils Karlson, an economist and political scientist who jointly wrote an op-ed last year in Foreign Affairs entitled “Sweden’s Coronavirus Strategy Will Soon Be the World’s,” is more optimistic. “There was some recent figures showing that if you count excess mortality, Sweden is one of the best countries in Europe,” he told ABC News. “And one of the reason is, of course, that we didn't get the flu, just the ordinary flu, because we wash our hands. We have social distancing. We didn't have as many car accidents. You know, all kinds of other stuff that that affects us didn't happen this year.” The resistance to lockdown, he said, is based on the idea that they are “unsustainable,” he said, and Sweden’s strategy takes into account not just economic factors, but all aspects of public life. While acknowledges the COVID death toll was too high, he said: “You have to keep society open not only for economic reasons, but also for critical public functions to to function, like hospitals, schools and so on. Schools are still open for younger kids... Otherwise, it's remote learning. But I think it has worked fairly well.”

Sweden’s novel approach to tackling the coronavirus pandemic has drawn both praise and fierce criticism, not just inside the Scandinavian country, but across the Western world. The country has so far resisted going into lockdown, unlike the rest of Europe, even during the peak of its second wave over Christmas.Continue Reading

Protecting Europe with dams across the North Sea

By: Administrator

On: July 15, 2020

In: News

With: 0 Comments

To combat rising sea levels, there is a highly ambitious plan to build massive sea dams across the North Sea and English Channel. When it comes to engineering, you rarely see projects as bold as this one. Concerned that rising sea levels will eventually swamp northern Europe’s major cities, twoContinue Reading

Coronavirus Statistics

Sweden 680,130

Sweden

Confirmed: 680,130

Active: 667,153

Recovered: N/A

Death: 12,977
Denmark 213,318

Denmark

Confirmed: 213,318

Active: 7,010

Recovered: 203,934

Death: 2,374
Lithuania 200,884

Lithuania

Confirmed: 200,884

Active: 10,853

Recovered: 186,737

Death: 3,294
Latvia 88,668

Latvia

Confirmed: 88,668

Active: 9,172

Recovered: 77,830

Death: 1,666
Norway 73,493

Norway

Confirmed: 73,493

Active: 6,847

Recovered: 66,014

Death: 632
Estonia 70,610

Estonia

Confirmed: 70,610

Active: 16,627

Recovered: 53,360

Death: 623
Finland 60,200

Finland

Confirmed: 60,200

Active: 13,436

Recovered: 46,000

Death: 764
Iceland 6,058

Iceland

Confirmed: 6,058

Active: 11

Recovered: 6,018

Death: 29