Sweden, which has adopted a singular strategy to fight against Covid-19, should have introduced measures earlier at the start of the pandemic, according to a commission of inquiry.
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Sweden was right not to impose containment in the face of Covid-19 but should have introduced measures earlier at the start of the pandemic, concluded on Friday February 25 a commission responsible for evaluating its heterodox strategy.
The Nordic country stood out at the start of the pandemic with less strict measures than elsewhere, and remained generally more open than elsewhere throughout the pandemic. “We consider that more imperative measures should have been taken in March 2020 to limit the general spread of the virus. If these measures had been taken, we believe that the virus would have entered fewer retirement homes and that there would therefore be had fewer deaths from Covid-19”told AFP Mats Melin, the chairman of the commission of inquiry, appointed in 2020 by the executive.
“We do not consider the Swedish approach to have been a failure. Basically, it was a correct approach to rely on non-binding advice and recommendations for citizens” who “has allowed us to preserve greater individual freedom than elsewhere”he pointed out. “Our criticism is that this fundamental approach should have been supplemented by more mandatory measures at the start of the pandemic”he summarizes.
Sweden now has a death toll from Covid-19 lower than the European average, but was among the countries most affected at the start of the epidemic, in particular because of a carnage in retirement homes.
The commission particularly lamented that it took until the end of March 2020 for public gatherings to be capped at 50 people. “There should have been temporary closures” indoor venues, such as malls, restaurants and sporting events, she said.
The commission also faulted the government for being too much of a second line behind Chief Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell’s Public Health Authority.