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Sweden took a softer COVID-19 approach. Has it been effective? - National | Globalnews.ca

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Want to discuss? Please read our first.AdvertisementClose XAASince the beginning of the pandemic, has taken its own approach, choosing to implement less stringent measures to stem the spread of than most other countries.Prime Minister Stefan Lofven previously said Sweden is pursuing a “common sense” approach that will keep the country operating, while also protecting its most vulnerable.“I feel confident in the overall strategy,” Lofven said last week. “One reason that we have chosen this strategy, and where we have supported the agencies, is that all measures have to be sustainable over time.”The country has banned gatherings of more than 50 people, closed high schools, colleges and universities, and has urged isolation for citizens over the age of 70 or for those with underlying medical conditions who may be vulnerable to COVID-19. Story continues below advertisementThat means elementary schools, most restaurants and most businesses have remained open. The decision to do so has drawn criticism.Why has Sweden been criticized and has the country’s approach been effective? Here’s a look at what’s going on.For weeks, members of the international community, including U.S. President as well as scientists, have been critical of Sweden’s approach, saying the country is putting its citizens at risk by trying to develop herd immunity.In a previous interview with Global News, Dr. Jeff Kwong, an infectious disease specialist and associate professor in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto, explained the idea of herd immunity, saying if enough of the population is immune to a virus, the infection won’t spread as easily. Story continues below advertisement“Or ideally, it won’t spread at all,” he said.He said people become immune either through vaccination or by developing natural immunity by becoming infected with the virus.But Kwong said willingly attempting to develop herd immunity to this novel coronavirus is “dangerous.” [ ]He said it is unclear at this time if those who have been infected with the virus would be immune from a second infection, or how strong the immunity would be.Kwong said the “whole idea of flattening the curve is that you don’t allow too many people to get very sick at the same time,” so as not to overwhelm the health care system.If more people are sick than the health system can handle, he said, a “lot of people die.”Sweden, though, has rebuffed claims it is trying to develop herd immunity.LISTEN:&nbsp; Story continues below advertisementThe country’s minister of health and social affairs, Lena Hallengren, last week there is “no strategy to create herd immunity in response to COVID-19 in Sweden.”“Sweden shares the same goals as all other countries — to save lives and protect public health,” she said.According to , as of 9 a.m. ET on Monday, there were 22,721 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Sweden.So far, the virus has claimed 2,769 lives in the country.While that is far more relative to the size of the population than in Denmark, Norway and Finland, where authorities have taken a stricter approach, it is lower than in Britain, France and Spain, where there have also been lockdowns. Story continues below advertisementAndrew Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, told European Union lawmakers that the country was not seeing a decline and that it had seen “no substantial changes in the last 14 days.”But, recent modelling from Sweden’s health agency suggests about 25 per cent of people in the Stockholm region have had or will contract the disease, levels at which it has said partial herd immunity could help slow the outbreak.Last week, the issued some cautious backing for Sweden’s less stringent approach.“If we are to reach a ‘new normal,’ in many waysrepresents a future model,” said Mike Ryan, the WHO’s top emergencies expert.“What it has done differently is that it really, really has trusted its own communities to implement that physical distancing,” he said.But, Steven Hoffman, a York University professor and the scientific director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Population and Public Health, told Global News there are a couple factors that allowed Sweden to implement less stringent measures.The first, Hoffman said, is that Sweden has “invested enormously” in public health infrastructure.Story continues below advertisement“Moreso than many countries,” he said. “So it has a deeper infrastructure to rely upon in times of a pandemic.”Hoffman said the other is that there is “social cohesion” in Sweden. He said citizens trust that their government is “mindful of the public good.”He said there are “very strong social norms” about not putting others at risk, and of everyone “doing their part” to help.“So I think the Swedish government, in a sense, has been able to draw on that civic-mindedness as a collective resource in its response to the pandemic … in ways that the United States, for example, probably could not,” Hoffman said.Asked if Canada could have followed Sweden’s lead, Hoffman said: “We definitely could have.”“And indeed, in post mortem, we might conclude that the Swedish model was the right model,” he said. “I don’t know.”But, Craig Janes, director of the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo, said once the pandemic ends, he’s not sure Sweden’s approach will be viewed as successful. Story continues below advertisement“They do have a lot of cases and they are seeing a fairly significant amount of mortality, particularly, as we do here, in long-term care facilities, retirement homes,” he told Global News. “So I’m not sure that, when it’s the end of the day, it will be highlighted as a successful approach.”Overall, Janes said Sweden has chosen to take a “very dangerous path,” by not implementing more stringent measures.“Just the precautionary principle of public health would suggest that Canada probably did pick a better path,” he said.Ultimately, Janes said Sweden will make for a “good case study,” and will be an “important test to see whether we got things right or not.”— With files from The Associated Press and Reuters© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.CommentsAdvertisementStay in the loopGet a roundup of the most important and intriguing stories, delivered to your inboxSign up for Health IQ newsletterSign UpStay in the loopGet a roundup of the most important and intriguing stories, delivered to your inboxSign up for Health IQ newsletterSign UpAdvertisement

Want to discuss? Please read our first.AdvertisementClose XAASince the beginning of the pandemic, has taken its own approach, choosing to implement less stringent measures to stem the spread of than most other countries.Prime Minister Stefan Lofven previously said Sweden is pursuing a “common sense” approach that will keep the country operating, while also protecting its most vulnerable.“I feel confident in the overall strategy,” Lofven said last week. “One reason that we have chosen this strategy, and where we have supported the agencies, is that all measures have to be sustainable over...

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Hannah Jackson

Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 15 owned-and-operated stations.  Corus also operates several talk radio stations under the "Global News Radio" brand. The same division also operates a news website under the same brand.

Sweden took a softer COVID-19 approach. Has it been effective? - National | Globalnews.ca

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