Scientist defends strategy

SWEDEN’S chief epidemiologist yesterday defended his country’s controversial coronavirus strategy, which avoided a lockdown but resulted in one of the highest per capita Covid-19 death rates in the world.

Anders Tegnell, of the Public Health Agency, denied that “the Swedish strategy was wrong and should be changed. That’s not the case”.

“We still believe that our strategy is good, but there is always room for improvement... You can always get better at this job,” Tegnell told a news conference in Stockholm.

Sweden has stood out among European nations and the world for the way it has handled the pandemic, not shutting down the country or the economy like other nations, but relying on citizens’ sense of civic duty.

Swedish authorities have advised people to practice social distancing, but schools, bars and restaurants have been kept open the entire time. Only gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned.

Asked if the country’s high death toll had made him reconsider his unique approach to the pandemic, Tegnell told Swedish radio “Yes, absolutely”.

According to the national health agency, Sweden, a nation of 10.2 million people, has seen 4 542 deaths linked to Covid-19, which is far more than its Nordic neighbours and one of the highest per capita death rates in the world.

Denmark has had 580 coronavirus deaths, Finland has seen 320 and Norway has had 237, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Still, authorities in Sweden, including Tegnell, have been criticised – and some have apologised – for failing to protect the country’s elderly and nursing home residents. But Tegnell said it was still unclear what the country should have done differently.

“Maybe we know that now when you start easing the measures, we could get some kind of lesson about what else, besides what we did, you could do without a total shutdown,” he said.

Last week, the country’s former state epidemiologist, Annika Linde, said in retrospect she believed an early lockdown could have saved lives in Sweden.

Political pressure has also forced the Swedish government to speed up an investigation into the handling of the pandemic, while ordinary Swedes are not sure what to think.