In an interview (see video below) with Trevor Noah of The Daily Show, Dr. Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s State Epidemiologist of the Public Health Agency of Sweden, discusses the country’s strategy, with no lockdowns, to deal with SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
My Notes Based on What I Heard From Dr. Tegnell
General Philosophy
• The goal is to adapt the measures to the reality of each region and demographic.
• The policy assumes each individual and organization are responsible for their own situation.
• There is no tradeoff done between deaths in one segment or the other. The goal is to keep public health as best as possible for all.
• A policy of having the public take responsibility always worked well.
• The experience has made them grow very confident that closing schools is not effective for this disease in particular.
Guidance to the Public
• Restaurants must keep customers separated, not crowded.
• Bars should not have people sitting close together.
• Customers should be 5 to 6 feet apart (1.5 to 2 meters).
• The responsibility is delegated to restaurant owners, and restaurants are not closed.
• In the general population all can go to work, but whoever feels ill must stay home.
• For that, the government has a law for people to get paid even if they are ill at home [note by author: I don’t know if this law was an emergency measure or if it existed from before].
• Many rules were recommended for the elderly, including to stay at home.
• Swedish people were told to do what is best based on the guidelines.
• Schools have remained open, because school is good for kids and their health.
• People have kept working normally because losing jobs is bad for health.
About COVID-19 Cases
• Stockholm, which has around half the population of the country, is the region most hardly hit.
• By now Stockholm has an estimated 25% of the population infected.
• The high relative death rate compared to countries in the Scandinavian peninsula as Norway and Finland has been due to nursing homes deaths.
About the Decease
• SARS-CoV-2 will likely not go away.
• However, with 25% or more infected in the Stockholm metropolitan area, the disease will decelerate significantly.
• When the disease decelerates, society and work can go back to normal.
• Some parts of society, especially the elderly, will always be at risk.
About the Death Toll
• Contrary to what is reported in general, they did not put anybody’s life above anybody else’s life.
• They try to put public health as best as possible for all. This is why they didn’t shut down due to this disease in particular.
About Public Trust
• The trust between the population and the health agency takes a long time to build.
• Polls say 70% to 80% of the population thinks the agency is doing a good job about COVID-19.
• Trust in the agency is very important because the public adheres voluntarily to the guidance.
My Opinion
The Swedish strategy, to maximize health for all segments, drives them to make balanced decisions as they refrain from taking destructive measures for any particular demographic.
Watch the 10 Minute Interview Here
