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I agree totally that Sweden was the model that America should have followed. What we’ve done is an abysmal mistake in every way, particularly with our kids. I will never forget how the “experts” hammered kids into believing they could be guilty of bringing Covid home to grandma and grandpa. Disgusting.
100% agree. What we did to kids and teens especially was so wrong.
Sweden took the approach that social distancing was more critical than masking up. Ski resorts closed. Sporting events cancelled. Public gatherings was nixed. No alcohol sales after 8. All restaurants/ bars closed at 8:30. No bar service. Distance between tables seating was limited to 1-4 per table. High schools went to remote learning.
Nearly 40% of the workforce was already working from home before Covid. All others were strongly encouraged to work from home or rely on personal transportation instead of public transportation.
A negative Covid test within 48 hours of arrival has been required to enter Sweden.
Sweden did short spurts intermittent distance learning for kids only when hospitalizations and deaths were high. Kids of all ages were mostly in person throughout the pandemic.
No offense to the OP, but threads like this make me shake my head. No one knows why Sweden is doing relatively well. There are just too many confounding factors that could be influencing how they are doing. It would take some serious research and statistical modeling to even start to come up with a "rough" idea of what "might" influence infection rates from one geographical location to another. In the States we can see very different results between states. What is the driving factor or factors? Who knows without actually doing research and modeling? All of this is just emotional and logical conjecture. Nothing wrong with that, but at least recognize it for what it is.
Sweden did short spurts intermittent distance learning for kids only when hospitalizations and deaths were high. Kids of all ages were mostly in person throughout the pandemic.
Population of Sweden is 10 million vs 328 million in the US.
Far less opportunity to spread.
The Dakotas combined have a population of 1.7 million. Neither state imposed restrictions. In November- early December, the Dakotas had the highest infection, hospitalization and fatality rates in the world. The event in Sturgis in August is believed to have been the trigger event for the surge in the upper Midwest as attendees disbursed and spread the virus.
Most people have not been tested. Not everyone who tests positive self quarantines, especially if they are asymptomatic.
Sweden also did many things - as others have mentioned - like work-at-home, with better numbers than USA did - so it's not exactly like they did "nothing."
But - for most of the pandemic - Sweden had MORE deaths than Ohio, for a place with the same population - Ohio gradually caught up - which was the whole point, gradual instead of all-at-once draining resources.
So what you're really asking is - did they suffer less economically than Ohio? Tough to answer, but at the moment, Ohio is gaining in that regard - we're improving, while Sweden is worsening - so kinda wrong to call the score at half-time.
The bigger point is - nearly everyone is a loser here. Comparing things is just pointless. It sucks everywhere.
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