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How Sweden is Surviving the Pandemic With Few Restrictions

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Sweden is one of the few European countries that has not placed restrictions on citizens during the coronavirus pandemic.

With a population of 10.2 million people, "The Elongated Country" has seen 84,294 COVID-19 cases and 5,783 deaths. These numbers are puzzling to some people since Sweden never shut down its schools or businesses and did not limit individual liberties like the US and much of Europe did.

New Scientist reports that Sweden did impose some restrictive measures, but they were mainly voluntary and there was a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people.

Swedish epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told Nature magazine that Sweden addressed COVID-19 with the understanding that "this is not a disease that can be stopped or eradicated, at least until a working vaccine is produced. We have to find long-term solutions that keeps the distribution of infections at a decent level."

Tegnell added that extensive lockdowns are not consistent with Swedish laws which "are mostly based on voluntary measures — on individual responsibility. This is the core we started from because there is not much legal possibility to close down cities in Sweden using the present laws."

He did admit that Sweden "underestimated the issues at care homes, and how the measures would be applied. We should have controlled this more thoroughly," Tegnell said.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, the Nordic country received complaints about the way elderly patients infected with COVID-19 were treated.

The predicament appears to have come from instructions issued by the National Board of Health and Welfare.

At the beginning of the pandemic, doctors were advised to prioritize patients based on their overall health and the possibility for recovery, before intervening with a treatment, Bioedge reports.

"Doctors overseeing nursing-home care were advised to keep their distance from residents because of infection risks and told to carefully weigh the condition of patients before referring them to hospitals, said Thomas Linden, chief medical officer of Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare."

The theory was to keep ICU admissions down and not overwhelm the hospital system with elderly patients in case there was a surge, but that never happened.

Latifa Löfvenberg, a nurse who provided medical services to COVID-19 patients in care homes said some doctors would administer morphine and a sedative.

"People suffocated, it was horrible to watch. One patient asked me what I was giving him when I gave him the morphine injection, and I lied to him," "Many died before their time. It was very, very difficult."

Up until mid-May, half of the reported deaths from COVID-19 were in nursing homes. Tegnell says the issue has improved.

Throughout the pandemic, Sweden's economy has remained more successful than other European countries. Their gross domestic product (GDP) fell 8.6 percent however Sweden fared better than Spain at 18.5 percent and Portugal at 14.1 percent.

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About The Author

Andrea Morris
Andrea
Morris

Andrea Morris is a Features Producer for The 700 Club. She came to CBN in 2019 where she worked as a web producer in the news department for three years. Her passion was always to tell human interest stories that would touch the hearts of readers while connecting them with God. She transitioned into her new role with The 700 Club in August 2022.