Hero epidemiologist Dr. Anders Tegnell, savior of the Swedes.
Sweden’s “No Lockdown” response to the coronavirus craze seems to be working just fine.
Fewer people per capita have died “of coronavirus” in Sweden than in the United Kingdom, despite the latter’s enforcement of a lockdown.
Once this is over, Swedes will still have a functioning economy, their jobs and businesses, and the ability to continue living their lives. They’ll have to restructure to deal with the collapse of the rest of the Western world, but they will not be in a state of utter collapse. And hey, they can still trade with China. Because China didn’t do this insane lockdown.
It’s all thanks to the epidemiologist who dared to go against the global hysteria.
Parts of Sweden could achieve ‘herd immunity’ as early as next month, the country’s leading epidemiologist has said as the death toll steadily rises.
The Government is holding out against a total lockdown despite growing calls for ‘rapid and radical measures’ to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
It has cancelled football games and closed university buildings. Restaurants, cinemas, gyms, pubs, and shops remain open.
Last week, it announced plans for an aggressive testing regime which could see 100,000 tests administered as the number of cases exceeded 13,000.
Speaking to local media, Dr Anders Tegnell, the architect of Sweden’s controversial strategy, claimed that the population of Stockholm – the epicentre of the country’s outbreak – could achieve ‘herd immunity’ as early as next month.
Dr Tegnell said: ‘According to our modellers [at the Public Health Agency of Sweden], we are starting to see so many immune people in the population in Stockholm that it is starting to have an effect on the spread of the infection.
‘Our models point to some time in May.’
He told Norwegian TV: ‘These are mathematical models, they’re only as good as the data we put into them. We will see if they are right.’
Dr Tegnell’s assessment came after the national death toll was recorded at 1,511, with 13,822 confirmed cases.
Asked about the death rate, Dr Tegnell said: ‘It is not a failure for the overall strategy, but it is a failure to protect our elderly who live in care homes.’
Sweden has been described as an ‘outlier’ as it refuses to impose an EU-style lockdown, despite its coronavirus-related death rate rising.
Currently around 50 per cent of the Swedish workforce is working from home, while public transport has fallen by 50 per cent in Stockholm. The capital is around 70 per cent less busy.
However, Swedes can still go shopping, eat out at restaurants, get haircuts, and send children younger than 16 to class.
The Government has faced rising criticism of its policy, as detractors point to the rising death toll as proof that its aversion to total lockdown is misguided.
In a joint letter published in Aftonbladet last week, more than 900 teachers and school staff said it was physically impossible to practice social-distancing.
On Thursday, the Swedish parliament passed a new law granting the Government temporary powers to quickly adopt measures aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus without prior parliamentary approval.
The new law allows the Government to close businesses, limit public gatherings or shut down ports and airports, as well as a number of other measures.
‘It is important that the Government has access to more tools in the fight against the coronavirus if they should prove necessary,’ MP Kristina Nilsson argued.
After objections from opposition parties, the bill was amended so that if the Government decides to enforce a measure, lawmakers can vote to rescind the measure if deemed unnecessary.
The new powers came into force yesterday and last until the end of June.
The Government is still prohibited from adopting measures that curtail rights guaranteed by the country’s constitution, meaning it would still need to go through parliament to issue the type of curfews seen across continental Europe.
However, it has not pursued such measures, opting for a softer approach and calling for citizens to take responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines.
What a contrast to America’s “this virus looks scary, so the Constitution and Bill of Rights don’t matter anymore lol” response.
The world really is upside down.
America was supposed to be the land of the free.