Damning report about Sweden

[CovidHalloween]

I’ve read a lot of hot air about Sweden’s “amazing” approach to the virus on here before.
The Times has just released a report on how badly Sweden has managed the virus and how it has one of the highest deaths per capita.

time.com/5899432/sweden-coronovirus-disaster/

Christmas will be a damp squib.

No ones expecting an office Xmas party. But they will want to see family and friends, who they haven’t been able to see for months.

The policies of Australia, New Zealand, much of Asia, and the Isle of Man didn''t produce lockdown 'fatigue' either.

Well if you have the luck and/or T&T ability to only lockdown once, then that’s a difference prospect.

And welding people into their apartments is one way of dealing with fatigue, sure.

I think Australia is the only comparable example there and I’m not sure what’s made the Victorian’s so compliant. I’d love to talk to one.

@TheKeatingFive

Christmas will be a damp squib.

No ones expecting an office Xmas party. But they will want to see family and friends, who they haven’t been able to see for months.

I'm only a bit disappointed that christmas will be flat. But a lot of younger people, let's be serious, what they value most about Christmas is not seeing family.

I was agreeing with marshabrady.

@TheKeatingFive

Christmas will be a damp squib.

No ones expecting an office Xmas party. But they will want to see family and friends, who they haven’t been able to see for months.

It's a social virus, If everyone is mixing with with all other people over Christmas and then new year's eve then January/February will be dire.

Thanks to the government delaying and delaying restrictions that are worth a dime, the situation will be dire in December with the virus anyway.

If everyone is mixing with with all other people over Christmas and then new year's eve then January/February will be dire.

Agreed.

I’m in Ireland though, and we’re in lockdown. They’ll get the numbers down, probably, but they’ll shoot right up again when cooped up people are allowed to meet their friends/family.

It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

@TheKeatingFive

If everyone is mixing with with all other people over Christmas and then new year's eve then January/February will be dire.

Agreed.

I’m in Ireland though, and we’re in lockdown. They’ll get the numbers down, probably, but they’ll shoot right up again when cooped up people are allowed to meet their friends/family.

It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

It helps that they've made that clear decision, so everyone knows where they stand at least. Lockdown now to get a grip of things and get the numbers right down. Enjoy Christmas to a realistic extent - in the knowledge numbers are relatively low - and then bunker down again in January. At least it's a strategy the country can plan for.

England is just a mess.

It helps that they've made that clear decision, so everyone knows where they stand at least.

It’s shit strategy though. Lock down, open up, rinse repeat, until the economy and people’s mental health are in the toilet totally. Can we lock down again? Who’ll comply at that point?

There are much cleverer and braver things governments could be doing. But they don’t have the intellectual capacity.

It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t

So why bother?

I believe there would be less deaths if we didn’t/hadn’t locked down.

Lockdown wasn’t about saving the NHS I. If it was then the Nightingale hospitals would have been full leaving other hospitals to get on with saving lives with cancer operations and other even minor surgery.

I wonder what is going to happen if Wales fails to bring this virus under control
after the lockdown.

Are they going to go again and again into firebreak lockdowns if a few weeks after the numbers are up and rising higher.

Which appears what happens if you have a harsh lockdown

Weren’t there reports that we had actually peaked before lockdown (in South anyway). So was the curve coming down naturally, as what would happen with a virus. Lockdown accentuated this and brought cases right down to an artificially low level.

We should have used that time wisely, getting test and trace in good shape.

Otherwise what was the point? If cases were actually starting to drop naturally by April time and we had so much spare capacity?

The argument is that hospitals weren’t overwhelmed because we locked down. However my consultant friend in Hillingdon said busiest time was Feb going in to March, admissions had started to drop before lockdown.

@TheKeatingFive

The policies of Australia, New Zealand, much of Asia, and the Isle of Man didn''t produce lockdown 'fatigue' either.

Well if you have the luck and/or T&T ability to only lockdown once, then that’s a difference prospect.

And welding people into their apartments is one way of dealing with fatigue, sure.

I think Australia is the only comparable example there and I’m not sure what’s made the Victorian’s so compliant. I’d love to talk to one.

The only luck is in living in a country where the governments and vast majority of the public have common sense and foresight. Oh - and morals.

Victorians saw beyond the middle of next week. They weren't blinded by short-term greed. They realised that the nasty virus wouldn't just stop spreading and go away if you wished it to. They rolled up their sleeves, got on with containment measures. Including very high mask compliance. I read a report today. About 99% wore masks. Very little whingeing.

And are now rewarded for their efforts. They get to have a mostly normal Christmas. Their shops are open. Their offices are open. Their pubs, bars, and restaurants are open. Gyms open. Theatres open. Schools all open as normal with no disruption. Hospitals running as normal.

And...they all have healthier economies. Fewer job losses. Low number of deaths - and less chance of seeing a significant proportion of the working age population suffering long-term disability of Long Covid.