[ad_1]
STOCKHOLM (Bloomberg): Sweden’s light approach to containing Covid-19 may be working in Scandinavia’s largest economy, but it would be a mistake to consider it as a model for others to follow suit, according to Goldman Sachs.
Swedish schools, gyms, bars and shops have remained open during the pandemic. On Tuesday, a report showed that Swedish GDP may be contracting much less than economies elsewhere.
Despite the absence of a strict blockade, Sweden’s death rate as part of the population is lower than in most major European economies.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s leading epidemiologist says there are signs that the infection rate has stabilized.
But Goldman says none of that is evidence that other countries adopting Sweden’s direct response to Covid-19 would achieve similar results.
That’s because a number of exclusively Swedish demographic factors have protected it from the worst, a team of Goldman economists led by Sven Jari Stehn said in a note.
“Therefore, the Swedish experience cannot be extrapolated to support a rapid reopening elsewhere,” Goldman said.
“Its population density is about half that of Italy, and Sweden has a high proportion of single-occupancy households, and a relatively low proportion of multi-generational households.”
Sweden’s death rate, while not as bad as in places like the UK and Spain, is much worse than in neighboring Denmark, Norway and Finland. But more importantly, development has never overwhelmed Sweden’s health system.
In a recent interview with Danish state broadcaster DR, Sweden’s chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell explained his strategy, arguing that severe restrictions make little sense for a virus that is likely to exist for a long time.
“The long-term sustainability of strict rules is not that great. You can only impose such restrictions for a limited time,” he said. “So you have to find a different way, and our model can be more sustainable.”
[ad_2]
