According to Sweden's state epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, Sweden's infection and fatality rates are starting to stabilize in the Nordic country despite no widespread state-enforced quarantine according to Swedish News agency TT.
"Over in Sweden, relatively little has been done formally, aside from cancelling soccer season and closing university buildings. Restaurants, cinemas, gyms, pubs and shops remain open," said Colby Cosh of Microsoft news.
While most of the world including the U.S., the UK and Canada have instituted nationwide quarantines in an effort to "flatten the curve", Sweden has taken a largely different approach to the pandemic. Instead of locking the nation down and crushing their own economy in turn (as many nations have done), Sweden has put faith in the populous to maintain social distancing and to carry on with daily life.
"Swedish officialdom believes the Swedish people are uniquely capable of being trusted to act in concert for a national goal. There is an operating assumption that public health “messaging” will be followed correctly by all, without question or resistance."
According to Bloomberg News, despite no official quarantine or forced lockdown, the Swedish people have increasingly chosen to stay home by choice.
"Trips from Stockholm to Gotland -- a popular vacation destination -- dropped by 96% over the Easter weekend, according to data from the country’s largest mobile operator, Telia Company. And online service Citymapper’s statistics indicate an almost 75% drop in mobility in the capital."
Through Sweden's approach to the pandemic by keeping their economy largely running as it would normally, Swedish authorities are prepared to deal with a long term quarantine without suffering devastating economic repercussions.
Large countries such as the U.S., UK and Canada all now have to make the decision of how to reboot their economies that have been brought to a crashing halt.
The U.S. hit 40,553 deaths on April 18 with a total estimated population of 331,002,651, Sweden has 1540 deaths due to Covid-19 as of Sunday with a population of 10.2 million.
While it is too early to tell, it will be seen in time which viral response strategy is most effective. What we known right now is as the rest of the world (exception of Singapore and several other nations) have locked down their people, Sweden is keeping its economy running while keeping their Covid-19 numbers as low as possible, and so far it looks to be a success.
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