As we’ve been reporting for months in the Trends Journal, Sweden has been the target of worldwide criticism for being the only western nation not to impose a strict lockdown on its people to deal with the coronavirus.
We’ve also been noting that while many in the mainstream media continue emphasizing the higher death rate in Sweden compared to its neighbors Norway and Denmark, they almost never add the fact that Sweden’s death rate from the virus is lower than Spain, France, the U.K…. and even Belgium, which has a slightly higher population. Here are these country’s death rate percentages:
- Sweden: 7.18
- Spain: 10.44
- France: 13.71
- U.K.: 15.19
- Belgium: 14.8
From the beginning of the virus outbreak, Sweden banned gatherings of more than 50 people, but elementary, middle, and high schools remained open along with gyms, bars, restaurants, shops, and parks. And while some businesses chose to close and many curtailed social activities, most restrictions were voluntary.
Now, more than three months after the “soft” lockdown, Dr. Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s state epidemiologist, announced last Tuesday that Sweden is seeing a significant decline in death rates and hospitalizations due to COVID-19. Reuters reports than since April, only seven deaths have been recorded and ICU use is down.
Dr. Tegnell stated, “It really is yet another sign that the Swedish strategy is working… We have managed to do it with substantially less invasive measures.”
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven admitted in mid-June that where Sweden failed was not offering better protection in nursing homes and elderly at-home care, as over 70 percent of all coronavirus deaths came from those sectors. The prime minister stated, “It has to do with failings in society that we are correcting, including basic hygiene deficiencies in many care homes.”
It should be noted that while Italians were banned from outdoor social gatherings and French citizens couldn’t leave their homes without a government permit, Swedes jogged in parks, children played in playgrounds, and people socialized in cafés and bars. And tens of millions weren’t thrown out of work as they were throughout Europe.
Now, even with death rates declining rapidly along with hospitalizations, most of the mainstream media, amplifying the fear-inducing warnings of health “experts” around the globe, continue to attack the Swedish strategy as a failure.
One example is this headline on 9 July from Business Insider: “Sweden’s coronavirus death toll is now approaching zero, but experts are warning others not to hail it as a success.”