Some closed everything, others left almost everything open: Denmark and Sweden acted completely differently in the Corona crisis. As the Danes progress, the Swedes remain high. They still stick to their course.
Stockholm (AP) - Sweden and Denmark both announce their daily corona numbers at 2 p.m. However, the similarities of the Scandinavian neighbors in the Corona crisis also end there.
While the Danes have managed the novel corona virus with strict measures like hardly any other country in Europe, the Swedes are far worse off with their more liberal strategy. And on the Danish side of the Øresund Bridge, one is already wondering: Have the Swedes gone crazy - or does their special path turn out to be brilliant in the end?
A look at the numbers of the past few days shows the differences between the two otherwise closely linked countries: On Thursday, the Swedes reported 69 new Covid 19 deaths and 673 new infections, while the Danes only had four more deaths and 46 confirmed new cases were. On Wednesday, 147 people were killed in Sweden, in Denmark there were only six. In total, Sweden has more than 28,600 infections and 3,500 deaths, compared to around 10,700 illnesses and almost 540 deaths in Denmark, where around half as many people live.
Sweden also stands out with the highest numbers compared to the rest of Scandinavia. Nevertheless, the country of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell is sticking to its strategy. The situation in the country is stable, Tegnell recently assured. Even if he conceded: "It is terribly sad that so many people in Sweden continue to die from the disease."
Unlike Germany and the rest of Europe, Sweden has decided against restricting large parts of public life in the fight against the corona virus. Schools, shops and restaurants - which have been or are gradually being reopened in Denmark - remained open all the time. Nevertheless, the Swedes are also concerned with slowing the spread of corona in order to avoid deaths and not to overload the healthcare system. "Sweden has the same goals as all other countries - saving lives and protecting public health," said Foreign Minister Ann Linde recently on Twitter again.
However, the measures taken in Sweden have been significantly more moderate than elsewhere: Meetings with more than 50 participants are prohibited, only high schools and universities are closed. Otherwise, the government and the authorities mainly appeal to the common sense and common sense of their citizens. They ask them to keep their distance and to stay at home with symptoms - especially the latter is viewed skeptically by some scientists.
"The entire strategy of the Swedish health authority is based on a life-threatening concept: stay at home if you feel sick," criticized the Stockholm virologist Lena Einhorn in mid-April on SVT. If you ask the sick to stay at home, then you don't have a large proportion of the infected in view, which not least means that the elderly is at risk of life, said Einhorn.
With her criticism of the special route, she is not alone, as several opinions by Swedish scientists show. As early as April, 22 researchers declared the health agency's actions in the newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" to have failed. Others, however, continue to believe firmly in the anti-authoritarian and more liberal approach. This goes so far that some Swedes wear t-shirts with Tegnell portraits or get tattoos with their likeness. Even "corona patriots" and "health nationalism" are mentioned in the country's leading newspapers.
However, the situation among the older Swedes, to which Einhorn also referred, poses a considerable problem: almost 90 percent of all Swedish corona deaths were over 70 years old. The government has urged this main risk group to avoid social contacts, and visits to retirement homes have also been prohibited since April 1. Nevertheless, these homes have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, be it in the capital Stockholm or in other parts of the country: approximately every second Covid 19 death in the country to date has been a resident.
But there are also positive developments: The number of reproductions was almost continuously below 1.0 in the second half of April. This means that each infected person infects less than one other person on average. The number of new intensive care patients declines more or less regularly. And Stockholm is also discussing a possible approach to herd immunity, which could soon occur in the city as a consequence of the special route. However, 22 researchers said in a new opinion on Thursday that it was "unrealistic and dangerous" to rely on this strategy. "Instead of letting people die, we should keep people alive until effective treatments and vaccines can be used."
Whether the idiosyncratic Corona strategy of the Swedes will work out in the end cannot be estimated even several months after the pandemic started. "We cannot draw any conclusions before it is over," said Tegnell in a report published by the Danish radio station DR on Tuesday. Until then, according to Tegnell, at least a year is likely to pass.
Corona numbers Denmark
Corona numbers Sweden