A country that puzzles Europe … fewer cases of coronavirus without “restrictions”

At a time when many countries around the world have accepted strict lockdown orders with the onset of the new Corona virus outbreak, Sweden has raised the ire of many governments and health officials for its decision to keep things as if the virus did not. existed, except that the number of cases in Sweden has now decreased. Compared to other European countries, it puzzled scholars and praised it. “

In places where face masks are commonly used in most of the world, “Swedes do not wear masks in trains, supermarkets or shopping malls, with a decrease in the number of cases of corona infection.”

And when most of Europe closed schools, restaurants, gyms and even borders, “with the start of the outbreak, the Swedes still enjoyed many freedoms.”

The relatively low-level strategy captured the world’s attention, “but at the same time coincided with a much higher per capita death rate than in other Nordic countries.”

And now, with the number of infections increasing again in most of Europe, “the country with a population of 10 million has the fewest cases of the new coronavirus, and only 14 patients with the virus are in intensive care.”

However, it remains uncertain whether Sweden’s strategy is really successful or not. Its health authorities, particularly chief epidemiologist Dr. Anders Tegnell, continue to repeat a familiar warning: “It is too early to know this and that all countries are at one stage. Different from the epidemic.”

However, this did not stop the World Health Organization’s director of emergencies in Europe, Catherine Smallwood, from saying that “the continent can learn broader lessons from Sweden that can help fight the virus elsewhere.”

He added: “We have to realize that Sweden, at the moment, has avoided the increase seen in some other Western European countries. I think there are lessons from that. We will be very interested in working on and hearing more about the Swedish approach.” according to the Associated Press. “.

According to the European Center for Disease Control, “Sweden has registered 30.3 new cases of corona for every 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, compared to 292.2 in Spain, 172.1 in France, 61.8 in the United Kingdom. United and 69.2 in Denmark. All imposed strict closures early in the epidemic. “

Overall, Sweden has recorded 88,237 infections and 5,864 deaths from the virus, “equivalent to 57.5 deaths per 100,000 people, since the start of the crisis.”

Thus, it appears that “how Sweden’s out-of-country strategy was viewed is highly dependent on the stage of the epidemic the observer was going through at that time.”

At first, “many people abroad did not believe the images of Swedes eating with friends in restaurants or drinking drinks on the Stockholm waterfront, then came the shock when the virus swept through nursing homes and nursing homes in the country. “.

By mid-April, “more than 100 deaths were reported every day in Sweden, while death rates had decreased in other parts of Europe.”