I have written a few articles on COVID 19 since the beginning of the pandemic. If you’re reading this one, I encourage you to peruse them when you’re finished. I am relieved I can now write this brief story (hopefully) without the absurd political backdrop of a Trump Presidency. I am apolitically cynical about COVID 19 conventional wisdom in the U.S. and most of Western Europe, as I understand it. This fact does not mean that I supported Trump’s COVID 19 policy or stance.
Since the beginning of the Pandemic, many in the media were critical of Sweden’s Corona policy. Indeed, I traveled to Sweden in December, from New York City, and it was completely different…
Masks are a complete anomaly. It is unusual to see someone wearing a mask in Sweden (at least where I was). In fact, I had to go to a municipal doctor’s office, while in Sweden, and exactly one of the about ten patients I saw were wearing masks. The doctor was wearing a mask but (I guess I looked at him strangely) so he said that he had COVID about two months earlier but has been symptom free since. He offered to take off his mask to make me feel more comfortable, unless I minded (I did not).
Stores, restaurants, etc. are open for business and, for the most part, I did not experience lines or restrictions to enter them. There are lines with spacing markers, like in the U.S., and people adhere to them.
Most schools, and especially elementary schools remain open, without restrictions. We had friends whose elementary school age child had Corona and they simply informed the school and kept them out a few days. There was no school or class announcement. There was no special spacing in the classrooms.
Anecdotally, it seems Swedes tend to eat healthier diets, on average, with fewer processed foods. They seem to value the outdoors and outdoor activity more than Americans (or, at least, New Yorkers), on average. I don’t think there’s any question they have lower stress work schedules, on average. There’s easier and lower stress access to decent healthcare, on average. There seems to be less mistrust of Government in Sweden and what they tell you or ask you to do.
Given all of the above differences, what have been the differences in death rate between Sweden, the U.S. and the rest of Western Europe? There’s no question that Sweden’s approach to COVID 19 has been an outlier among Western democracies.
The below link from the web site Statista shows a ranking of countries in decreasing order of COVID deaths per one million people:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
Cynics of Sweden’s approach love to compare Sweden to the other Scandis — Norway, Finland, Denmark — Despite the fact, that these countries have about half the population of Sweden and at least 1 or 2 fewer urban population centers.
When you compare Sweden’s death rate so far to European countries with a similar total population, it has a death rate well below the Czech Republic, Belgium and Portugal and in-line with Switzerland. Sweden is below the U.S., the UK, Italy, Spain and France. However, all (or at least most) of these countries adhere to a strict conventional wisdom around things like masks, business and school closures or spacing.
I am not an “anti-masker”… I am writing this to say the same things I said about a year ago (in fact, I was more regurgitating what I gleaned from hearing foremost Epidimiologists like, Sucharit Bhakdi, John PA Ioannidis, David Katz and Anders Tegnell). Things like, masks and sort-of shut downs (well after the pandemic has spread) are not very effective in controlling the spread or ultimate death rate of Corona virus, in a vaccum. They are, perhaps, more destructive to our economy and social bonds (particularly for youths?)… The costs of a total shut-down are probably too great to a democratic society, hence we have not really seen anything close to one, at least not beyond a couple of months.
Appropriate wearing of masks, with appropriate handwashing and appropriate social distance is helpful. Best practices on exercise, nutrition and smoking are probably also really important. I’d argue even more important, as these three factors can greatly impact many of the health risk factors that are integral to many Corona cases becoming serious or deadly.
Why not target our protections and aid to the most at-risk among us? Why not speak truths about exercise, nutrition and smoking and mandate best practices around those three things? Instead of or in addition to a curfew, closing schools or mandating masks, maybe we should totally ban cigarettes, various processed and unhealthy foods, while subsidizing healthy foods and exercise?
I certainly do not have all the answers. None of us do. But why are we ignoring facts and data that are inconvenient in promulgating a dubious conventional wisdom?
