Sweden is a model for the new normal, says WHO

The World Health Organisation lavished praise on Sweden as ‘a future model’ in the next phase of fighting the outbreak.

A a swab for a COVID-19 test us taken at a test facility in a tent outside Skane University Hospital in Lund, Sweden, this week. Picture: AP

The World Health Organisation lavished praise on Sweden as “a ­future model” in the next phase of fighting the outbreak because it has trusted people to observe ­social distancing rules.

Uniquely in Europe, Sweden chose not to tackle the pandemic with an enforced lockdown even though the policy has led to a ­higher death toll than in Denmark and Norway.

Mike Ryan, of the WHO emergencies team, said it was wrong to believe that Sweden had “just let the infection spread”.

“Nothing can be further from the truth,” Dr Ryan said.

“Sweden has set a very strong policy on public health, it is about physical distancing and how to protect the elderly in various nursing homes and much more.”

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Instead of schools, bars, restaurants and shops being closed, Swedes have been advised rather than compelled by the police or fines to adopt social-distancing measures.

“I feel confident in the overall strategy,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, said last week. “One reason that we have chosen this strategy, and where we have supported the agencies, is that all measures have to be sustainable over time.”

Sweden’s approach, said Dr Ryan, was a good example of how Western societies could reach a “new normal”.

“What it has done differently is it has very much relied on its relationship with its citizenry and the ability and willingness of its citizens to implement self-distancing and self-regulate,” he said. “They have implemented public policy through that partnership ... Sweden represents a future model if we want to return to a society that we do not have to close.”

Gardener Robert Nilsson gets ready to fertilise lawns in Lund’s Stadsparken park with chicken manure on Thursday. Picture: AFP

However, two of Sweden’s leading experts warned that the situation in its care homes and continued transmission of the virus were due to people ignoring social-distancing rules in cities.

Uno Wennergren, professor of theoretical biology at Linkoping University, and Tom Britton, professor of mathematics at Stockholm University, predicted deaths would rise to between 10,000 and 20,000 from the current 2586.

“That is why it is of the utmost importance that we are able to keep down the rate of transmission,” Professor Britton told the broadcaster SVT.

The southern Swedish city of Lund spread stinking chicken ­manure on the grounds of a central park to discourage a public celebration there on Thursday.

It’s traditionally a big festive day among Swedish students and youth. Gustav Lindblad from Lund’s environmental committee told Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan that “we get the opportunity of fertilising the lawns in the park and, at the same time, it will stink and it may not be so nice to sit and drink beer in the park”.

The city says up 30,000 people from different parts of Sweden — mostly students from Lund University — have in previous years gathered to the Stadspark to celebrate Valborg, a spontaneous festival that marks the arrival of spring for Swedes.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has donated a $US100,000 prize she won from a Danish foundation to the UN Children’s Fund for use against the pandemic.

“Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child rights crisis,” Greta, 17, said.

“It will affect all children, now and in the long term, but vulnerable groups will be impacted the most.”

Greta said at the end of March that she had “likely” contracted the coronavirus, after experiencing several symptoms after a trip to central Europe.

THE TIMES