Sweden’s coronavirus experiment
has well and truly failed
Wired,
by
Amit Katwala
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
6/1/2020 4:38:39 PM
There was a familiar refrain from political commentators on certain corners of the internet in the early days of the pandemic – a three-word slogan in the vein of ‘Get Brexit Done’ that popped up wherever people felt the government’s lockdown plans impinged on their rights: what about Sweden?
The Nordic country was used as an example of why closing down society in the way that most other European countries have done was unnecessary. Even now, restaurants and bars in Stockholm remain open, children are still going to school, and people are only advised to stay at home if they feel ill – rather than whole households
Reply 1 - Posted by:
earlybird 6/1/2020 4:49:27 PM (No. 428693)
We were treated to what seemed like an infinite number of articles telling us of the wonderfulness that was happening in Sweden. Freedom! None of the fusty rules that lowly Americans were having to follow… OK. Now here’s another article to read. It was bound to come sooner or later. They and the media may have been able to psych out those who believe all they read. But a disease like COVID-19 can’t be psyched out. Reality check. Read it.
More than 4,000 people have died in a country of ten million. For seven of the last 14 days, Sweden has had the highest number of deaths per capita in the world. “Sweden hasn’t changed very much at all,” says Paul Franks, an epidemiologist at Lund University. “But because things have changed in other countries, you’ve noticed the change in the relative death rates.” The comparison is particularly stark when compared to Sweden’s neighbours, which have similar cultural practices and healthcare systems – it has almost four times as many deaths as Norway, Finland and Denmark combined.
2 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Pat26.2 6/1/2020 4:53:21 PM (No. 428695)
This article attacks Sweden's record as the worst in the world. The statistics on Deaths per 100,000 people from John Hopkins shows:
Belgium 82.9
Spain 58.1
UK 58.0
Italy 55.3
Sweden 43.2
France 43.0
Netherlands 34.7
Ireland 34.0
USA 31.9
Some of those countries had extreme lock-downs compared to Sweden.
26 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Suzi 6/1/2020 5:03:48 PM (No. 428701)
So? Infantile, childish, immature thinking that death and illness can be avoided at any cost. In no time in our global history have we paid such a high price to save ourselves from illness and death. It's ridiculous. Were there hospitals overwhelmed? Wasn't that the point? It's insanity.
28 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
curious1 6/1/2020 5:05:30 PM (No. 428704)
And no mention if it was older swedes or 'immigrants' that were doing the dying. Why not a breakdown with some details?
17 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
earlybird 6/1/2020 5:06:09 PM (No. 428706)
To make legitimate comparisons, one needs more than raw data. Italy and Spain were two countries hit hard and very early. Yet they didn’t begin their lockdowns (which are not described) until early March and ended them in early May. Pretty much the same thing can be said of the UK. Without all the data and qualifying information, comparisons become apples to oranges...
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 6/1/2020 5:07:15 PM (No. 428708)
Cases vs. Deaths?
7 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Felixed 6/1/2020 5:23:26 PM (No. 428715)
Just another "narrative" leader with the usual incomplete/misleading statistical dishonesty.
And found on a platform offering no public comment where rebuttal could ever be seen.
Typical.
13 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 6/1/2020 5:39:50 PM (No. 428731)
Zimbabwe has just 0.28 deaths per million. Using their logic we should heartily embrace Zimbabwe's health care system and lifestyles.
10 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Highlander 6/1/2020 5:53:05 PM (No. 428741)
I rather take my chances with a bug than to have my life upended by some government wonk!
19 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
IdahoJoe 6/1/2020 6:11:15 PM (No. 428758)
The purpose of lockdowns was not to reduce the overall number of deaths. It was to allow the healthcare system to gradually handle the cases without becoming overwhelmed. We are all sick of statistical models, but those models generated at MIT predicted that, all other things being equal, 10% more of the population would contract the virus if lockdowns were preserved. The cause of the extra 10% was the fact that the virus would take longer to run its course. The only things that stop the virus are herd immunity or successful vaccines. Since we still do not have a vaccine, if you want to get the virus gone as soon as possible, you should run the 'lockdown' in such a way as to keep the hospitals slightly less than overwhelmed, protecting the vulnerable as much as possible.
12 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
czechlist 6/1/2020 6:46:13 PM (No. 428799)
Lies, damn lies and statistics
Dozens, if not hundreds, perhaps thousands of variables but the "experts" can always narrow it to a single reason. Just like Climate Change.
Didn't the New England Journal of Medicine just report that masks are useless for anyone other than medicos who are exposed for long periods?
9 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
HPmatt 6/1/2020 6:58:20 PM (No. 428810)
Amit is not a math guy - bending the curve is not the same as letting the curve progress - integrate the area under the curve and compare. He doesn’t provide #s to validate his conclusion. If others pushed out infections, vs allowing them to occur, Sweden is ahead of the curve relative to other populations. Say if Sweden is 50% exposed and past now, vs 20% of Norway, deth rates aren’t comparable!w/o adjustment.
7 people like this.
What happens next year? While much of the world bid away from the bug, Sweden let it run its course to attain here immunity. While the rest of the world will be hiding in the basement again next year the Swedes will be shrugging it off.
Ready for covid panic the sequal? Better start stocking tp now.
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Skeptical1 6/1/2020 9:47:50 PM (No. 428917)
The author's triumphal tone and his reference to Brexit betray his bias. He wants Sweden's approach to fail because it's out of step with what his team has been advocating. There's nothing new in this piece. Sweden has always said that the success of their approach will have to be measured in time, after a year or so. That just makes sense.
The study showing higher prevalence of antibodies in London than in Stockholm is intriguing. But instead of linking to the study, he links to a Reuters article that contains very little information, other than that it was completed in April. Given the U.K.'s very high per capita death rate, Londoners may well have had more exposure than people in Stockholm did. Hard to see how that reflects poorly on Sweden. It would be more interesting to compare it with Oslo's prevalence of antibodies.
4 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Anti_democRAT 6/1/2020 10:21:31 PM (No. 428940)
something smells in denmark or in this swedish data. more deaths but less antibodies in people. that means less people contracted the virus without lockdown or the antibody test data is junk. also probably rationed healthcare to people at risk
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
DVC 6/1/2020 10:47:40 PM (No. 428962)
Not a fan of Wired.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
dirtyjersey 6/2/2020 12:48:56 AM (No. 429028)
Lockdowns don’t prevent disease, they just delay it. If you’re active, you’re going to get it. It is only a matter of when. Sweden is just fast forwarding the process.
0 people like this.
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