I can’t say that I’ve ever looked to Sweden for the answer when considering solutions to problems we all face.
They explained social distancing and its benefits. They warned the populace about at-risk groups and asked those people to avoid public situations when possible. Alternatively, they asked residents to keep their distance from at-risk groups.
In short, they trusted their people to do what they thought was best for their individual circumstance.
They didn’t shut anything down, and they’re not issuing tickets or locking anyone up for getting too close to others in public or visiting a friend.
So far, nearly so good. No one knows how many deaths are too many deaths? Obviously, no one wants death. But death is also the end to everyone’s life and, therefore, inevitable.
As of this writing, they’ve had 900 deaths, with 1,000 cases per million residents – ranking them 30th in the world. But I don’t think those statistics address the real question.
The real question is, are they building more immunity, as a country and community, than countries that are locked down in total isolation? The concern for those countries is that when they finally come out of hiding, they’ll just restart the effect.
But Sweden, which never shut down, presumably won’t have any second wave. They’re just going to experience one wave. And will people be building immunity during that wave? It’s too early to tell now, but keep an eye out. There could be some answers coming.
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