11/9/2021- 1:41 p.m.
Has Sweden’s anti-lockdown gamble paid off? New figures suggest it might have
New Oxford University-based research suggests that Sweden’s anti-lockdown approach has paid dividends, as the Scandinavian country has recorded fewer Covid deaths than most of Europe.
Sweden has recorded around 1,500 Covid deaths per million, lower than the continental average of 1,800, and a current infection rate of 100/mn – far lower than the UK (500/mn), Austria (800/mn) and Belgium (nearly 700/mn).
Neighbouring Norway and Finland, which have adopted far stricter measures, have achieved far lower death rates though – both with around 200/mn ppl, but Cambridge University epidemiologist Dr Raghib Ali believes the anti-mandate approach has value.
“What we’ve learned from Sweden – and the UK – is that people’s voluntary behaviour can get countries over a peak without mandated restrictions, even though they alone cannot prevent big outbreaks,” he said.
