(CNN) – Much of Europe still in confinement for the pandemic of coronavirus, with severe restrictions on movement and sanctions for those who transgress them.
But not Sweden. Restaurants and bars are open in the Nordic country, playgrounds and schools too, and the government is confident of voluntary action to stop the spread of covid-19.
It is a controversial approach, which attracted the attention of the President of U.SDonald Trump. “Sweden did that, the flock, they call it the flock. Sweden is suffering very, very badly, ”Trump said Tuesday.
People run and ride in Nacka, outside Stockholm, Sweden, on Wednesday April 8, 2020. (AP Photo / Andres Kudacki)
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But the Swedish government is confident that its politics can work. Foreign Minister Ann Linde told Swedish television on Wednesday that Trump was “really wrong” in suggesting that Sweden followed the theory of “collective immunity”: allowing enough people to contract the virus while protecting the vulnerable, which means that the population of a country accumulates immunity against the disease.
Sweden’s strategy, he said, was: “There is no confinement and we are very confident that people will take responsibility.”
The country’s state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell also rejected Trump’s criticism that Sweden was doing poorly. “I think Sweden is fine,” she told CNN affiliate Expressen. “It is producing quality results in the same way as always. So far, Swedish healthcare is handling this pandemic in a fantastic way. “
As of April 9, Sweden had 9,141 cases of covid-19 and 793 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
Sweden’s actions seek to encourage and recommend, not compel. Two days after Spain imposed national confinement on March 14, Swedish authorities were encouraging people to wash their hands and stay home if they were sick. On March 24, new rules were introduced to prevent overcrowding in restaurants. But they stayed open.
So did many elementary and secondary schools. Meetings of up to 50 people are still allowed.
Tegnell defended the decision to keep the schools open. “We know that closing schools has many effects on health care because many people are no longer able to go to work. Many children suffer when they cannot go to school. ”
Elisabeth Liden, a journalist in Stockholm, told CNN that the city is less populated now. “The subway went from being completely full to having only a few passengers per car. I have the feeling that a large majority are taking social distancing recommendations seriously. ”
But he added that while “some Swedes don’t even kiss their spouse, others throw Easter parties.”
New wave
Much of Sweden’s focus has been to protect the elderly. Anyone age 70 and older has been told to stay home and limit their social contact as much as possible. A Swedish government official said that, in general, people supported the government’s approach, but many were “upset by the fact that until recently [el 1 de abril] There was no ban on visiting nursing homes, and now the virus has spread widely in these homes, causing the death toll to rise. “
The World Health Organization (WHO) is skeptical about Sweden’s approach. Noting a further increase in infections in the country, the WHO told CNN on Wednesday that it is “imperative” that Sweden “increase measures to control the spread of the virus, prepare and increase the ability of the health system to cope, guarantee the physical distance and communicate the why and how of all the measures to the population ”.
“Only a ‘whole society’ approach will work to prevent escalation and change this situation,” said a WHO spokesperson for Europe.
Sweden’s “curve” – the rate of infections and deaths caused by coronaviruses – is certainly steeper than that of many other European countries with stricter measures. A study by Imperial College London estimated that 3.1% of the Swedish population was infected (as of March 28), compared to 0.41% in Norway and 2.5% in the UK .
As for deaths, as of April 8, the coronavirus accounted for 67 deaths per 1 million Swedish citizens, according to the Swedish Ministry of Health. Norway had 19 deaths per million and Finland, 7 per million. The death toll increased 16% on Wednesday.
Some Swedish researchers demand that the government be stricter. This week, several prominent Swedish doctors wrote an open letter regretting that large numbers of people visit bars, restaurants and shopping malls, including ski slopes. “Unfortunately, this is translating into a continuing death toll in Sweden.”
Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér, a virus immunology researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, is one of more than 2,000 health professionals and researchers who signed a petition demanding stronger action. Söderberg-Nauclér told CNN: “We are not winning this battle. It is awful.
“Where I live, people work from home, but they go to local restaurants, local cafes and mix old people with young people from schools and universities. That is not social distancing ”.
People hang out on the street in Stockholm, Sweden on Wednesday April 8, 2020. (AP Photo / Andres Kudacki)
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Söderberg-Nauclér says the situation in Stockholm, where the vast majority of the country’s infections have occurred, is “lost,” but adds: “It is not too late for the rest of the country. I would like us to close down and take control of the unaffected regions in the same way. ”
Withstand the storm
Tom Britton, professor of mathematical statistics at Stockholm University, models how infectious diseases behave in a population. He believes that 40% of the population of the Swedish capital will be infected in late April. Although he recognized the difficulty of measuring the infection rate, he told CNN that “my best estimate today would be 10% or a little more” of Swedes who currently have the virus across the country.
Some opponents of government policy fear that reliance on voluntary behavior will cause a much faster increase in cases, which could overwhelm the health care system. Sweden also has one of the lowest proportions of intensive care beds per capita in Europe, and the government official who spoke to CNN said supplies of protective equipment are only slightly above demand.
However, in some respects, Sweden is better prepared to weather the storm than other countries. About 40% of the country’s workforce worked regularly from home, even before the virus struck, and Sweden has a high proportion of people living alone, while in southern Europe it is not uncommon to have three generations under one same roof.
Emma Grossmith, a British labor lawyer working in Stockholm, says another factor in Sweden’s favor is a generous social welfare network that allows people to not feel compelled to go to work if their young son is ill. State support begins on the first day of absence from work due to a minor’s illness. “The system here was already well configured to help people make smarter decisions that ultimately benefit the general population,” he told CNN.
But Grossmith notes a big gap between the way Swedes and expats view the virus. “There is a native trust in the system among those who have grown up with it. In contrast, many in the expat community feel that the strategy has not been clearly communicated or strongly criticized in the Swedish press. They are deeply concerned. “
Next month will see if the Swedish system did it right.
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