WHO declares Sweden's covid response a model for the world

[Lunar567]

www.intellectualtakeout.org/who-declares-swedens-covid-response-a-model-for-the-world/
WHO scared everyone into lockdown and now praise Sweden!

[Lifeisabeach09]

Look at the stats for some countries--clearly some needed to be scared. The UK and USA being a case in point.
It's not one size fits all as different populations have different personalities. Also, based on the culture, size of population and geography it was easier to socially distance there without lockdown.
The Swedish way will likely be what many countries have to aim for going forward.

[Mikki2019]

What a joke

[pfrench]

The population looked after it themselves. Shops closed due to lack of business. They probably had a 'lockdown' similar to the UK, without schools closing, just not directed by the government.

[ivykaty44]

Indeed let’s ignore countries that have navigated the pandemic in such a style to mitigate death toll, New Zealand, Vietnam, South Korea, Greece, Iceland and of course that thorn in the side of the WHO Taiwan

Who have had fewer deaths than Sweden put together

[Noooblerooble]

Iceland also didn't fully lock down and they've had fewer cases.

[LifeIsBrutal]

What a useless bunch of cunts.

[Rosehip10]

The WHO are a joke - couple of weeks back they were slating Sweden for their response.

[LangClegsInSpace]

Here's what they actually said:

I think if we are to reach a new normal in many ways Sweden represents a future model of, if we wish to get back to a society in which we don't have lock-downs then society may need to adapt for a medium or potentially a longer period of time in which our physical and social relationships with each other will have to be modulated by the presence of the virus. We will have to be aware the virus is present and we will have to, as individuals and families and communities, do everything possible on a day-to-day basis to reduce the transmission of that virus.

That may mean adjusting the way we live our lives and I think maybe in Sweden they're looking at how that is done in real time. So I think there may be lessons to be learned from our colleagues in Sweden but again I wanted just to emphasise, Sweden has not avoided controlling COVID-19. It's taken a very strong strategic approach to controlling COVID-19 across all of the elements of society.

What it has done differently is that it really, really has trusted its own communities to implement that physical distancing and that is something that remains to be seen, whether that will be fully successful or not.

www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/transcripts/who-audio-emergencies-coronavirus-press-conference-29apr2020.pdf

[KeepWashingThoseHands]

This is fascinating to me. Firstly the CMO equivalent in Sweden was in the papers at the weekend saying he didn't necessarily agree with the epidemiologist person.

Secondly, that epidemiologist person is citing herd immunity yet when our own govt did so the response from WHO and people on MN was different.

Thirdly, article clearly states "possible model".

Finally article also clearly states there has been 'lockdown' of sorts it's just not govt mandated in the same way and relies in community cooperation.

I certainly think there have been mistakes in the UK but I'm really sick of this type of reporting that's then selectively referenced in threads.

[LangClegsInSpace]

WHO scared everyone into lockdown

When? I've been watching their press conferences since the beginning of March.

They have consistently said lockdown is for when you've fucked up and lost control of the virus. They have consistently said that lockdown has severe costs for both individuals and national economies and that testing, isolation, contact tracing and quarantine are the way to go, and that if you've ended up in lockdown you need to get those things in place asap so you can start coming out of lockdown asap.

[Abbccc]

This ismthe important bit : "
I think if we are to reach a new normal in many ways Sweden represents a future model of, if we wish to get back to a society in which we don't have lock-downs then society may need to adapt...."

[Newjez]

@Lunar567

Did you actually read the article you posted Luna?

[Didkdt]

The UK was taking the Swedish approach hence shielding was introduced.
The WHO criticised that model
It's a bit unfair to compare Norway a lot of the spread is due to a number of factors including population density even in cities, poverty, health and perhaps even ethnicity so maybe Taiwan had it right but once thousands of people returned infected from Italy before we knew it was a hotspot we lost that edge to test track and trace

[LangClegsInSpace]

Secondly, that epidemiologist person is citing herd immunity yet when our own govt did so the response from WHO and people on MN was different.

WHO gave quite a long answer and also covered the herd immunity thing:

Dr Michael Ryan - With regard to this concept of herd immunity, I think we'll wait. I believe seroprevalence studies are underway in Sweden as well as in many, many other countries and Maria can speak to that because WHO with our partners have done a large review of all of the seroepidemiologic studies that are underway and some of the results that are available.

But I would say that the general outcome; even in areas of fairly intense transmission the proportion of people who have seroconverted or who have antibodies in their blood is actually quite low, which is a concern because it does mean many, the vast majority of people remain susceptible. So the chance of the disease rebounding or returning is quite high, especially if control measures or lock-down-type measures are released too quickly without being replaced by case finding, contact tracing, testing and strong community compliance.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove - To supplement what Mike said around the herd immunity, right now we're tracking over 90 seroepidemiologic studies that are in various stages of development, whether the countries are just starting the process to implement or whether they're implementing them now. There are some pre-publication papers that have come out that have suggested low seroprevalence, a low percentage of the people they tested that actually have antibodies.

If the tests that they have used are reliable this indicates that a large proportion of the population remains susceptible to COVID-19. That means the virus has more room to move and so it is important that we continue to adhere to these public health measures.

I think we need to wait some time to have a better understanding of how well the serologic tests that are available work. For the countries that we are working with on seroepidemiology we've advised them to store their samples in -20 freezers right now until we can give a better indication of which serologic tests are performing well. But we do hope will have more information about the extent of infection in a number of countries across the globe so we can really understand how far and wide this virus has spread.

[IcedPurple]

Iceland also didn't fully lock down and they've had fewer cases.

Iceland has a population similar to that of Leicester, spread out over a country the size of England. Not really a useful model for, well, anywhere.

[justanotherneighinparadise]

WHO is funded by various countries. It is not a stand alone organisation. It’s main benefactor is America which is why when they threatened to remove funding WHO was very rattled. If no one funded then they would disappear. They are a collection of experts who give information which countries are at will to accept or ignore.

[TheCanterburyWhales]

Ah, so the clickbait redtop-style thread title isn't exactly what's being said.
Obviously.

[GrumpyHoonMain]

OP needs to read the articles she links to

[LangClegsInSpace]

WHO is funded by various countries. It is not a stand alone organisation. It’s main benefactor is America which is why when they threatened to remove funding WHO was very rattled. If no one funded then they would disappear. They are a collection of experts who give information which countries are at will to accept or ignore.

The US has removed funding. This was money that was earmarked for things like child immunisations, polio eradication programme, frontline basic health care in countries blighted by hunger and conflict.

It's true that WHO can't make any country do anything, however all member states are legally bound by the International Health Regulations which, among other things, oblige countries to alert WHO about outbreaks of infectious disease that could spread internationally.

If nobody funds WHO and they disappear then we might not know anything about the next pandemic until we're bang in the middle of it.

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

What worked/works in Sweden, sadly won’t necessarily work everywhere else. After today’s trip to Tesco, it’s obvious pEople are hard of thinking and/ or don’t give a shit.
In the UK, the population needs to be forces to do the right thing.

[MakingMemoriesVeryBlessed]

We are fatter than Sweden...

[GingerScallop]

About 50% of Swedes live in one perso homes. They are, to a large extent, a self-shielding, self-isolating nation. Most countries don't have this structure and so model doesn't exactly apply. Also the Swedish culture is very different to UK, US etc in terms of self-policing

[Hollyhobbi]

Wiith the way China went on we didn't actually know about the epidemic until we were bang in the middle of it!

[LangClegsInSpace]

Indeed let’s ignore countries that have navigated the pandemic in such a style to mitigate death toll, New Zealand, Vietnam, South Korea, Greece, Iceland and of course that thorn in the side of the WHO Taiwan

It was a press conference and they were answering a question about Sweden from a Swedish journalist.

The Taiwan stuff is getting really tedious. They've had to waste loads of time in recent press conferences in response to 'Wah wah wah what about Taiwan?' questions.

Twice they have had to get the principal legal officer on to explain that it's not up to WHO to recognise Taiwan as an independent state. They don't have the mandate. That decision lies with the UN, and ultimately all the member states of the UN.

Twice they have had to spend time outlining in great detail all the different ways they work with Taiwan and all the different WHO projects and committees that Taiwanese scientists are part of, both for covid and for other health issues.

They have even had to waste time explaining exactly what was said in the communication from Taiwan on 31 December. No, Taiwan did not warn WHO that there was human-to-human contact in December. Like a few other countries, they contacted WHO and said we are getting reports of a cluster of atypical pneumonia cases in Wuhan, do you have any information?

The conflict between China and Taiwan has been going on since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Taiwan is now being used as a pawn in the sabre rattling between China and the US. Let them take it to the UN and leave WHO to do its job.

[TheCountessatHotelCortez]

My question is then couldn’t the hot spot Areas if the UK not have locked down and let the more rural areas and those with fewer cases have a more relaxed approach? I’m in rural Scotland and we have had very few deaths and have always had below 5 in intensive care at any one time, hospitals are near enough empty and the caseload in the community isn’t any different considering the things they put in place to deal with a tsunami they keep saying we are getting for the past 7 weeks?