Was Sweden right about Covid?

It is now clearer than ever that Sweden was justified in taking a liberal approach to Covid-19.

Last week, Sweden conducted a record number of tests for coronavirus (more than 120,000) but found a record-low proportion of infected people – just 1.2 per cent, according to a report from Reuters.

This is down from 19 per cent in the spring. What’s more, Sweden’s current position contrasts sharply with the surge in infections in countries like France
and Britain.

Positive Covid tests in no-lockdown Sweden hit lowest rate since pandemic began | Article | Reuters https://t.co/DJ2wLl36Vn

— Ted Yarbrough (@TedYarbrough1) September 9, 2020

The director-general of Sweden’s health agency, Johan Carlson, said: ‘Our strategy has been consistent and sustainable.’ He added that Sweden probably has a higher rate of Covid-19 immunity in the population when compared to other countries, adding that, ‘I think we benefit a lot from that now’.

Sweden did not enforce lockdown, and yet its death rate has been lower than that of a number of countries which did, such as Spain, Italy and the UK. Its rate of spread of coronavirus is also now the lowest in Scandinavia.

Another boost for Sweden’s no-lockdown policy came last week, as Johann Giesecke, a prominent opponent of lockdown and one of the behind-the-scenes architects of Sweden’s policy, was given a major position at the World Health Organisation.

spiked has consistently argued against lockdown as a means to defeat Covid – and has challenged the attempts by lockdown fanatics to talk down Sweden’s liberal approach.

As many other European countries start to re-tighten their restrictions as we head into winter, it looks as if Sweden’s sensible, measured and sustainable approach is working.