In Sweden, the government and experts chose a relaxed way of fighting the corona virus.
The death toll is high - but scientists see other reasons.
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Sweden went its own way in the fight against Corona.
© Jonas Ljungdahl / Bildbyran via ZUMA Wire / dpa / picture alliance
With its liberal special path, Sweden decided on its own strategy against the corona virus.
To date, the death rate in relation to the total population has been high.
A thesis paper by three scientists sees reasons for this - and they surprise.
Stockholm - After the outbreak of the
corona pandemic
, politicians and scientists held discussions in many countries about suitable measures to take to fight the malicious
virus
.
In
Germany
, relatively hard measures were used at times, which
culminated
in a temporary
lockdown
.
Sweden
took a completely different path
.
In the Scandinavian country, among other things, shops and restaurants remained open.
People continued to meet there despite the
coronavirus
*
, public life went largely unaffected.
The Swedish special route was considered exemplary in this country for many critics of tough corona measures.
Later, however, critical voices also increased, since in Sweden, in relation to the number of inhabitants, about five times more people are currently infected than in Germany.
In addition, the total number of
corona infections
*
based on the population is many times higher than in the Federal Republic, as are the deaths.
Scientists: Corona deaths in Sweden due to the "dry tinder effect" are particularly high
Nevertheless, three scientists from the USA and Denmark believe that in addition to the loose corona measures, other factors could have contributed to the relatively high number of fatalities.
According to the thesis paper, for example, the so-called
"dry tinder effect" contributed to 25 to 50 percent of corona deaths
.
This phenomenon comes from research on forest fires.
In short, it is based on the assumption that a year with fewer forest fires is followed by one with even more fires, as a lot of dry tinder remains in the forests from the previous year.
🇸🇪, # Corona dead and the dry tinder.
1/8
Why did so many people in #Sweden die of / with the #Coronavirus?
The answer seems clear: Because the Swedes didn't have a lockdown.
But maybe that's not true - or just a little.
Anyway ... @ welt pic.twitter.com/4c5H4fT6Ji
- Olaf Gersemann (@OlafGersemann) September 3, 2020
The scientists transfer this to
Sweden's death statistics for
the past few years.
Far fewer people died there in 2019 than in 2018 and fewer than in any other year since 1977, although the population has grown by around 25% since then.
The researchers' conclusion: at the beginning of 2020, Sweden had statistically an extremely high number of people who were very susceptible to diseases such as a flu wave or a corona pandemic.
Coronavirus: Swedish elderly care system favored spread
In their working paper, the scientists also assign a crucial role to the Swedish elderly care system.
About
70 percent of all Covid-19 deaths
occurred
in care facilities for seniors
.
In Sweden, many nurses work in several institutions at the same time.
This promotes the spread of the virus.
Another reason for the high number of deaths from Covid-19 in Sweden is the fact that the close-knit and much-used local public transport in the capital Stockholm could have acted as a super-spreader.
Of all corona deaths in Sweden, around 42 percent occurred in Stockholm
- and that although only 20 percent of the country's population live there.
Overall, the scientists come to a surprising conclusion.
"We believe that with lockdown measures similar to those in Denmark, Norway or Finland, Sweden's Covid-19 death rate would be at least 75 percent of the current one," they write.
A thesis that raises questions.
With Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne, for example, there are four cities in Germany that have (in some cases significantly) more inhabitants than Stockholm (just under one million).
There, too, the local transport system is used by many residents, but under significantly stricter conditions.
In Sweden, for example, there is no general mask requirement.
(kh) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network
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List of rubric lists: © Jonas Ljungdahl / Bildbyran via ZUMA Wire / dpa / picture alliance