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Joacim Rocklöv, a professor of epidemiology and public health at Umeå University, was early to criticize Sweden’s strategy against the coronavirus.
In March, he warned that Sweden could end up in a similar situation to Italy.
He was then one of 22 researchers who wrote a highly publicized and rewritten debate article demanding an immediate reversal of the strategy.
Today, Rocklöv says he hesitated before signing and that “many probably wished the article was not written.”
“It would have been better not to polarize”
With the results in hand, he would have done it differently, he says in an interview with Svenska Dagbladet’s Per Kuno.
– In retrospect, it would have been better not to polarize, says the newspaper.
He says he did not want Sweden to close schools and restaurants, despite the fact that this is stated in the article, which was also signed, among others, by Professor Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér and Ph.D. in virology Lena Einhorn.
– It was a very annoying situation. Many were probably emotionally affected at all camps. Everything went very fast in that phase, he says.
– In hindsight, probably many others and I thought a more constructive discussion would have been better.
Regrets the worry, but stands firm
Rocklöv says he regrets contributing to the concerns, but insists that “we would have been in a completely different situation” regarding the death toll if Sweden had reacted earlier.
In this matter, he has received constant support, also from Anders Tegnell.
Earlier this summer, the state epidemiologist said, among other things, that they should have acted sooner and conducted more tests.
Watch Rocklöv debate the coronavirus in March:
He warned that Sweden would become like Italy
