Spring Has Sprung In Sweden With No Coronavirus Quarantine Or Police Enforced Lockdown
In Brief
- The Facts:Sweden has not enforced a mandatory quarantine or police enforced lock-down, yet there numbers are lower than many other countries with strictly enforced policies in place.
- Reflect On:Just because many governments have taken an extreme approach to "flattening the curve" does not mean that this is the best approach. Sweden trusts it's citizens to make appropriate decisions for themselves and their families, why don't ours?
While
the majority of rest of the world is under a state of quarantine and
some places with a police
enforced lockdown, the country of Sweden takes
an entirely different approach. The Western approach has triggered mass
panic, fear and confusion about what is going on and when and if they
will ever get to go back to how things were. The Swedish government, on
the other hand has a close bond with their citizens and they have
developed a sense of trust over the years by treating the adults, as
adults who are capable of making informed decisions and taking
appropriate measures to keep themselves and their families safe.Sweden Takes A More Relaxed Approach
Unlike most of their European
neighbours, Sweden has not closed non-essential businesses, borders or
schools. They also have not banned gatherings containing two or more
people. Sweden’s response to the global pandemic is being overseen
mostly by the country’s Public Health Agency, which by the way, is a
separate entity from their government. Sweden puts the power in the
hands of the people, trusting that they will voluntarily adopt the
recommended measures to delay the spread of the virus. They are still
encouraging those who are vulnerable to stay at home and practice social
distancing, and those who are ill to do the same, but they are not
using force, hysteria, fear and panic to do so.
But in view of the evident worsening of the situation, Lena Hallengren, Minister of Social Affairs and Health and Johan Carlson, Director General of the National Institute of Public Health, presented new guidelines and regulations to try to limit the damage caused by the Covid-19 virus.
The most important of these guidelines concerns the number of customers in shops and stores, public transport and the activities of the country’s sports clubs.
Johan Carlson said, “Everyone should avoid participating in large social events, such as baptisms, weddings and big parties.” (source)
Controversial Measures
Of course, considering the state of the
rest of the world, Sweden has attracted a lot of criticism from within
the country and outside of it. The leading epidemiologist for the Public
Health Agency, Anders Tegnell told CNBC
in an interview that although his country was attempting a different
strategy to defeat the spread of the virus, their aim was the same, “My
view is that basically all European countries are trying to do the same
thing — we’re trying to slow down the spread as much as possible to keep
healthcare and society working … and we have shown some different
methods to slow down the spread. Sweden has gone mostly for voluntary
measures because that’s how we’re used to working, and we have a long
tradition that it works rather well.”
Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Lofven
has announced that times will be tough and has put the responsibility on
the individual Swedes rather than having governments enforce strict
measures, saying, “We all, as individuals, have to take responsibility. We can’t legislate and ban everything.”
Is Sweden In Danger?
It is interesting to note that as of today (April 3rd) there have been only 6,131 cases of Covid19 reported in Sweden, this ranks Sweden as 19th on the worldmeters.info list. So, in comparison to 18 other countries Sweden is actually doing alright with the measures they have put in to place.
Only time will tell if the measures
taken by Sweden were appropriate or not. If they are able to manage the
problem and still effectively “flatten the curve” it may be upsetting to
the all the countries that are currently being asked to stay inside at
all costs. A positive aspect to Sweden’s approach is that they are not
using fear tactics as a means to control their citizens, less
fear/stress means stronger immune systems.
Imagine if your government trusted you
as a citizen enough to make the best decisions for you and your family
based off recommendations instead of enforcing measures to control its
citizens. I mean, can we get a little credit here to make appropriate
decisions on our own during times like these? Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, a
specialist in microbiology and one of the most cited research scientists
in German history shared his thoughts on the measures that are being
taken to combat the new coronavirus, he referred to them as “draconian.”
You can see his statement and read more about that here.
According to 21stcenturywire.com,
Only time will tell what the best response to this year’s outbreak turns out to be, but for the moment Sweden’s more laissez-faire approach should be heartening to its population. The government entrusting its citizens to observe advice and adjust their behaviours accordingly without the threat of police intervention is something that should be applauded in a free society. It also maintains a higher level of trust going in the other direction, from the public to the government. On a practical level, not employing draconian measures immediately prevents hysteria from taking hold amongst the public and allows for a slower escalation of measures should they be needed.
Trust is an important factor in a
democracy where a government rules by consent of the people. Public
trust in Sweden is exceptionally high, with citizens having faith that
their politicians are acting in the public interest. Their propensity to
treat adults like adults is key to that trust remaining.”
Final Thoughts
Just because many governments worldwide
have enforced these strict measures doesn’t necessarily mean that they
are the only option we have and they are the only way to effectively
stop the spread. There are a lot of points worth pondering when it comes
to the approach taken by most of the western world and it’s important
to always keep asking questions. Absolutely stay home if you’re sick or
have a compromised immune system, but for those who aren’t don’t forget
to get out in the sunshine, get some fresh air, go for walks in nature
and try to mitigate some of the fear and stress you may be feeling.
We are all in this together.
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