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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 1,007,792

Sweden

Confirmed: 1,007,792

Active: 158,161

Recovered: 835,458

Death: 14,173
Denmark 257,505

Denmark

Confirmed: 257,505

Active: 10,646

Recovered: 244,364

Death: 2,495
Lithuania 255,384

Lithuania

Confirmed: 255,384

Active: 21,698

Recovered: 229,667

Death: 4,019
Estonia 124,529

Estonia

Confirmed: 124,529

Active: 8,276

Recovered: 115,060

Death: 1,193
Latvia 122,545

Latvia

Confirmed: 122,545

Active: 8,875

Recovered: 111,473

Death: 2,197
Norway 115,629

Norway

Confirmed: 115,629

Active: 25,910

Recovered: 88,952

Death: 767
Finland 88,332

Finland

Confirmed: 88,332

Active: 41,410

Recovered: 46,000

Death: 922
Iceland 6,506

Iceland

Confirmed: 6,506

Active: 130

Recovered: 6,347

Death: 29