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Sweden has often produced world stars and brands in pop music, sports, fashion and furniture industries, and the Stockholm government is committed to equality and human rights worldwide. But during the crown crisis, Scandinavians are in the spotlight like never before. The country embarked on a special path two months ago., residents were less restricted than people almost everywhere.
In addition to admiration for the Swedish style, there was also harsh criticism, especially since the death rate from Covid-19 is significantly higher than that of the Nordic and German neighbors. The man who bears much of the responsibility for this strategy is not an elected politician, but an expert in the civil service: Johan Carlson, a 66-year-old white-haired scientist, has led the public health agency founded at the time ( “Folkshälsomyndigheten”) since 2014.
MIRROR: Mr. Carlson, on January 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the highest alert, an “international health emergency.” However, he later assumed that the virus would pose little danger to Sweden. Why?
Carlson We and others initially had the goal of containing the disease and preventing it from spreading across the country. We were also convinced that we could achieve this as long as the epidemic did not develop into a true pandemic. This strategy was successful until the great outbreak occurred in Italy. The Italian outbreak changed everything in this regard and turned the disease into a pandemic with the European epicenter. Of course, this was a surprise for us, as for all other European countries. So on March 10, we switched our focus from containment to mitigation.
MIRROR: Why did you decide against a block that day?
