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It is too early to judge Sweden’s approach to the coronaire, the country’s foreign minister said, but warned that the government would take stricter measures if necessary.
“It was a big misunderstanding,” said Anne Linde. “We have almost the same goals as any other government.” And as we always say, we are fully prepared to follow more binding rules if the population does not follow our recommendations. ”
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Sweden has closed all secondary schools and has banned protests of more than 50 people, but has asked, rather than ordered, people to avoid unnecessary travel, work from home, and stay home if they are elderly or sick. Trusting that citizens act responsibly, he has left shops, restaurants and gyms open, but he hopes that those who visit will respect the rules of social distance.
Many Swedes support and comply with the policy, which runs contrary to the strict restriction rules imposed in many EU countries and has been strongly criticized by some scientists. The country’s death toll per million, although much lower than in Italy and Spain, is also many times higher than that of its Scandinavian neighbors.
“It is a marathon, not a sprint.”
In an interview with The Guardian, Linde said Sweden’s goals were “to save lives, stop the spread of the crown, ensure that the health care system can deal with them, and mitigate the consequences for businesses and jobs.” . It must also be viable in the long term, he said. “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Stockholm authorities closed five bars and restaurants that did not meet the recommendations over the weekend, but allowed customers to finish their meals before being forced to leave.
“We want a strong relationship of trust between the people and the government”
“This was a strong signal,” said Sweden’s foreign minister. “These are not voluntary measures. You have to follow them. We believe that the best way for us is a combination of binding regulations and clear advice to the public. As much as possible, we want to build a long-term, solid relationship of trust between authorities and the public, “he said. There are many indications that most people are aligned, he said, citing a 96% drop in bookings at the country’s two most popular vacation destinations after the government reiterated its advice to stay home over Easter. The infection rate in the country also shows signs of balance and the Public Health Service estimates that up to 20% of its population has been infected with coronavirus.
Linde said she would be “surprised if there was no criticism” of the strategy, led by epidemiologist Anders Tegnel, who emphasized that the strategy was not to create “collective immunity” but to spread the virus. At the same time, the responsiveness of health services will be maintained.
Some of the country’s leading medical professors and academics have strongly criticized the decision not to follow the strict blockade adopted by many European countries, publishing open letters and reports calling for an urgent change of course and pointing to the number of deaths reaching 2.19. It is three times the number per million registered in Denmark and Germany and more than 6 times that of Finland.
Nursing home deaths were not part of the plan.
Sweden’s foreign minister said the relatively high number of deaths in the country “was certainly not part of the plan,” but acknowledged that the high number of deaths in care facilities and nursing homes, which so far represent more of half of the country’s coronary deaths, it was “an area where we have failed.”
The government recently passed a measure banning nursing home visits, he said, “but the virus is still coming and many deaths are being reported. We don’t know why this is happening, perhaps because some nursing homes did not follow the rules, maybe because the staff jobs were not safe, when they felt I couldn’t get sick, we are investigating. ”
The difficulties they encountered with Denmark and Finland
Linde said that while cooperation between the Scandinavian countries overall was excellent despite “very different views on what was effective” in treating the crown, there were “long discussions” with Denmark and Finland on the issue of closing. borders before arrangements were found that were acceptable to both parties.
In particular, Finland had to be persuaded to allow Swedish-based health workers in certain areas to continue crossing the border on a daily basis. “I had to answer a lot of questions from my counterparts around the world about our approach,” he said.
Despite avoiding a total blockade, the Swedish export-dependent economy is the most affected by the pandemic and most of the countries. The government has launched aid measures worth around 100 billion crowns, but still expects GDP to drop by as much as 10% this year. Unemployment is already increasing.
Too early to judge whether Sweden’s measures are successful or not
Linde insisted that it was too early to judge the success or failure of his government’s decisions relative to those of others, or even to say what the criteria for success were. “I will not evaluate or judge the strategy in Sweden or anywhere else,” he said. “It will take someone a long time to do it.”
Different countries have different methods of measuring coronavirus deaths, he said. And the long-term consequences, for example, the public health impact of long-term lockdown or widespread job loss, will take time to assess “We are just trying to do what we think is right,” he said.
Photos: AP
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