When Dietmar Pieper, SPIEGEL editor in the foreign affairs department, went to Sweden a few months ago and spoke to the country's chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, he had a queasy feeling.
Of course it was great to be in a country where, unlike in Germany, the corona pandemic hardly seemed to leave any traces.
The cafes and restaurants were open, there had been no school closings, the museums were still receiving visitors, Stockholmers strolled the streets - without masks.
Sweden had opted for a radically different way in terms of Corona and was celebrated by critics of the Corona measures worldwide.
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But Pieper also spoke to critics of the Swedish special route.
They also referred to Sweden's significantly higher corona-related death rate, especially compared to its neighbors Finland and Norway.
The main argument of the Swedish decision-makers back then was: yes, there are more deaths now, but in autumn we will see that there will be no second wave for this.
Sweden would then be in a much better position, after all, many people in the country had been infected by then and were immune.
“It was theoretically possible in the summer that this theory would prove correct.
I was suspicious because so many more people had died in Sweden than in neighboring countries, but it was simply too early to make a final judgment, ”says Pieper.
Now the time has come.
"The Swedish special route is over."
Dietmar Pieper
In this episode of the SPIEGEL podcast "Eight Billion", host Juan Moreno talks to Dietmar Pieper why, in his eyes, Sweden made a huge mistake that cost thousands of lives.
Contrary to what Swedish experts expected, Sweden experienced a very violent second wave.
The government has since given in.
"The Swedish special route is over," says Pieper, "and the result is clear: it was a disaster."
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