Swedish COVID-19 Model – First Evaluations of Effectiveness

The only one in Europe, Sweden has fought the pandemic in its own way. Having abandoned quarantine, the authorities introduced only soft restrictions, mostly of a recommendatory nature.

And the Swedish model was clearly not the worst. Since July 14, according to the World Health Organization, there have been no deaths from coronavirus in the country.

During the period of the pandemic, Sweden has been repeatedly criticized by both the WHO and the countries imposing strict quarantines for setting a “bad example.” However, the country’s authorities demonstrated a completely meaningful course towards achieving collective immunity, preserving the health of the population (mental and physical) and the country’s economy. Among the recommended measures introduced at different stages are social distancing (but a ban on mass events with more than 50 participants) and the introduction of remote work for employees (if possible).

Recently, Sweden’s seditious experience has been simply ignored, because its failure or the appearance of the predicted dire consequences are not being observed. Please note that the mainstream media simply do not report on the situation with the coronavirus in this country. And for a long time. One gets the impression that a kind of information blockade is at work. So what’s going on there now?

Judge for yourself. We will remind, in the summer of last year, the Swedish authorities announced a 40% collective immunity. And this at a time when vaccines were only at the development stage! Now, despite the aggression of new strains around the world, between 400 and 600 new cases of coronavirus are detected in the country every day, and the WHO’s statement of no deaths over the past month has plunged into shock. Over the entire period of the pandemic, 1.11 cases of infection and 14,658 deaths were recorded in Sweden.

Analyzing the latest data, it becomes clear that the result of soft measures was far from being as deadly as many experts predicted. However, other factors should be taken into account: the responsibility of Swedish citizens, a high level of health care and a successful vaccination campaign – exactly half of the country’s population is already fully vaccinated.

And yet, speaking of the “Swedish miracle”, taking into account the official statistics, is not entirely correct. Morbidity and mortality in the country for the entire time of the pandemic, in per capita terms, turns out to be the European average. Approximately at the level of the Netherlands, USA, France, Spain, England. And an order of magnitude higher than in Finland and Norway that have closed from the world.

However, it is difficult to predict the further scenario at this stage. It is worth remembering Japan, which during the Spanish flu was reliably fenced off from the whole world. She survived the epidemic safely, but after its practical completion, opening the borders, she faced a severe invasion of the virus.

Experts agree with the indisputable fact that both in Norway and in Finland the number of deaths from the coronavirus has not exceeded a thousand. Whereas in Sweden this figure is just over 14 and a half thousand. But the number of cases there is less than 2%! For comparison – in European countries, the USA and Sweden, the number of cases is, on average, 9-10%. What will happen next is not yet too clear.

And now it is worth paying special attention to the WHO statistics. Today, based on the total number of cases, 15% of patients are in the United States, 21% in England, 15% in Spain, 8% in Russia. In Finland and Norway, the peak of diseases is, 56% and 35% of all cases during the pandemic are suffering all the troubles of the coronavirus now. And in Sweden? A paltry 0.9%! And this is already a reason for reflection …

An interesting question arises: what have gained, in comparison with Sweden, by introducing strict quarantines and lockdowns of the country? The percentage of morbidity is approximately the same, and the mortality rate in relation to cases in Swedes is significantly lower than the world average. How can this fact be explained?

However, there is an explanation. During the time gained from the virus, effective vaccines have been created, which now protect against a severe form of the disease and reduce mortality.

But the virus does not give up, introducing ever more dangerous and infectious strains into battle. We are strongly advised to rush to revaccinate as early as 6 months after the initial vaccinations. What’s next? Still, without natural immunity, most likely, you cannot cope with the coronavirus.

The Swedish authorities have admitted that their model in the fight against coronavirus has been ineffective. But is it really so? It will undoubtedly take time to assess the correctness or mistakes of Sweden’s actions. Her experience is radically different, but it needs to be studied now. After all, they learn from someone else’s experience.

…



Source link