Swedish government response to the COVID-19 pandemic
[3] The commission criticized the response of the government, citing among other things a failure to protect the elderly population,[3] that the Swedish response was marked by slowness, with initial measures "insufficient to stop or even substantially limit the spread of the virus in the country," and that the Swedish healthcare system would face long-term consequences due to "the price of extreme pressure on staff and of cancelled and postponed care.On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus (nCoV) was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, in Hubei, China, who had initially come to the WHO's attention on 31 December 2019.Sweden received high rankings regarding prevention of the emergence of a new pathogen, early detection and reporting of an epidemic of international concern and having a low risk environment.However, a lack of regulations meant that the companies had no incentive to keep a bigger stock than necessary, effectively leaving Sweden without an entity responsible for medicine preparedness.[36] The Swedish state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has questioned the scientific basis of some of the "stricter" measures taken by other governments, including lockdowns and border closures.[38] Although many considered this to be a 'relaxed' approach, it was defended by the authorities as well as government officials, among them Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, to be more sustainable, as unlike lockdowns, it could be in place for "months, even years" as it wasn't assumed to be likely that the disease could be stopped until a vaccine was produced.[44] A temporary pandemic law was put in place in January 2021, allowing the government to introduce measures such as limiting the number of visitors in shopping malls and sport halls as well as how many people could gather in private events.[46][47][48] According to the Health Agency, the main reasons for not closing schools was that as a preventive measure it lacked support by research or scientific literature, and because of its negative effects on society.But he believed, in April 2020, that Sweden would benefit from herd immunity in the long run,[58] and reasoned that all countries would eventually have to achieve it to beat the virus.[43] However, in August 2020, email exchanges obtained by Swedish journalists under Sweden’s freedom of information laws found that Tegnell had discussed a herd immunity strategy in mid-March 2020.[63][64] In an interview with Sveriges Radio in early June, Tegnell was asked if he would have done things differently if he could ‘back the tape’, to which he replied that Sweden should have done more earlier during the outbreak.[67] On 10 March 2020, responding to indications of community transmission, the Public Health Agency advised everyone with respiratory infections, even mild cases, to refrain from social contacts where there is a risk of spreading the virus, in private as well as working life.On 10 January 2021 an Act was passed that provided the Government the right to place rules on curbing public and private gatherings, and limit international and domestic travel.[103] According to the Health Agency, the reasoning behind drawing the line at 500 was to limit long-distance travel within the nation's borders, as bigger events are more likely to attract visitors from all over the country.[114] With the arrival of the Omicron VOC, indoors public gatherings and events of over 500 people were required to implement vaccine passports from 23 December 2021,[115] and the limit was later reduced to 50 participants.[116] On 9 February 2022 all bans on gatherings and events (as well as other distancing regulations) were abolished,[117] and from 1 April 2022 Covid-19 was no longer classified as dangerous to the general public or society at large (although reporting requirements stayed in place).[119][120] The calls to avoid travelling and social interactions during the Easter weekend were repeated several times by agency and government officials, among them Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén and King, Carl XVI Gustaf.[128][129] In a press conference on 25 January 2021, foreign minister Ann Linde extended the advisory of the government against all non-essential international travel until 15 April 2021.[134] The agency reported a big increase in the number of people visiting the website during the beginning of the pandemic, with 4.5 million views between January and April 2020, compared to 200,000 during the same period in 2019.[136][140] The karensdag, the unpaid first day of sick leave, was temporarily discontinued on 11 March 2020 in an effort to encourage people to stay home if they were experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19.[143] On 13 March 2020, the government decided to temporarily abolish the demand of a doctor's certificate for 14 days for people staying home from work due to illness (i.e. sick pay period).[172] From 30 June 2020, the advice against non-essential travel were lifted for 10 EU countries, namely Belgium, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Croatia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain, as well as for Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City.[184] In December 2020, a report by the commission criticised the government for failing to protect elderly people in aged care due to the high level of community spread.in international media was things being "business as usual" in Sweden, with its citizens ignoring the recommendations to practice social distancing and avoiding unnecessary travel, often accompanied by footage of crowded streets and restaurants.of misleading their readers in another article, by selectively choosing quotes and putting them in a different context, and by disproportionately giving room to critical voices from Sweden in their reporting.[57] This was echoed by US president Donald Trump, who in a press briefing told the assembled media that Sweden was "suffering very greatly" due to what he referred to as "the herd", and that the US, if it had not taken much stricter social distancing measures, "would have lost hundreds of thousands more people".[217][218][219] Sweden questioned the scientific basis for imposing mandatory lockdown seen in other European countries, relying instead on the civic responsibility of its citizens to keep large parts of its society open.Swedes were expected to follow the recommendations on social distancing, avoiding non-essential travel, remote work, and staying indoors if they are elderly or feeling ill.[218][220] Sweden sometimes found itself used as a battering ram in debates,[neutrality is disputed] both to defend and to criticise more "strict" measures, including anti-lockdown protesters and politicians.[227][226] Yngve Gustafson, a professor of geriatrics at the University of Umeå, has alleged that some elderly COVID-19 patients in Swedish hospitals and nursing homes who could have survived with more active treatment were instead prematurely referred to palliative or hospice care, and that this has resulted in unnecessary deaths.[229] A March 2022 review published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications criticized the government's response, saying that it led to more deaths from COVID-19 in Sweden than in its neighbouring Nordic countries.
COVID-19 pandemic in SwedenPublic Health Agency of SwedenCOVID-19 pandemicCOVID-19SARS-CoV-2DeathsTimelineJanuaryresponsesFebruaryAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberLocationsBy country and territoryAfricaAntarcticaEuropeNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth AmericaCruise shipsNaval shipsEndemic phaseEvacuationsFace masksInternational aidOriginLockdownsby countryMisinformationby governmentsFake treatmentsSocial distancingSoftwareTravelUnited NationsWorld Health OrganizationWTO IP waiverUndercounting of deathsCOVID-19 appsZero-COVIDNational responsesEuropean UnionGermanyIrelandNetherlandsNew ZealandNigeriaPhilippinesRussiagovernmentfederal governmentVietnamDisease testingBreathalyzerDevelopmentDrug developmentDrug repurposingPublic health mitigationVaccinesHistoryResearchDeploymentAuthorizationsOperation Warp SpeedMisinformation and hesitancyVaccine cardVaccine passportsCoronaVacCovaxinConvideciaJanssenMedigenModernaNovavaxOxford–AstraZenecaPfizer–BioNTechSinopharm BIBPSputnik VVariantsVariants of concernOmicronEpsilonLambdaCluster 5Lineage B.1.617Economic impactrecessionArts and cultureAviationCannabisCinemaDisneyFashionFinancial marketsFood industryFood securityJournalismPerforming artsRetailTelevisionsportscastingprogramsTourismVideo gamesCanadaMalaysiaBy sportAssociation footballBaseballBasketballCombat sportsCricketDisc golfGaelic gamesGridiron footballIce hockeyMotorsportRugby leagueImpactsLong COVIDNeurological and psychological symptomsPost-exertional malaise