A treatise is published that bitterly criticizes Sweden's original route as a 'failure' in the new Corona pandemic.
In the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which has been rampant around the world since the spring of 2020, Scandinavian Sweden did not lock down in neighboring countries and maintained its economy while maintaining herd immunity. We have adopted a unique route that we aim to acquire. A paper published in the journal
Evaluation of science advice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01097-5
Scathing evaluation of Sweden's COVID response reveals'failures' to control the virus --ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/scathing-evaluation-swedens-covid-response-reveals-failures-control/story?id=83644832
According to the treatise, the Swedish Public Health Agency had issued plans for two pandemics before the COVID-19 pandemic. While these plans focused on vaccines and antivirals for the prevention and treatment of cases, they did not 'limit the impact on individuals and society' and 'minimize the negative impact on society.' It seems that the policy such as 'should not be' was also emphasized.
Based on these plans, even after the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic certification of the new coronavirus in March 2020 , Sweden will adopt an individual responsibility-based approach rather than the government or society to maintain economic activity. I decided that. Sweden did not adopt the strict urban lockdowns, restaurant business restrictions, or masking obligations adopted in other European countries. The Public Health Agency only recommended regular hand washing, avoiding going out when feeling sick, and avoiding unnecessary trips.
In the early days of the pandemic, restaurants and bars in Sweden continued to operate, and children under the age of 16 were not allowed to study remotely, even if they had a family with health problems at home, and attended school. Was obligatory. In many schools, few measures have been taken to control infection, and parents who tried to protect their children by not sending them to school were fined. In June 2020, the Public Health Agency recommended wearing a mask at hospitals and long-term care facilities for the elderly, but it is recommended to wear it when treating patients suspected of being infected with COVID-19. It seems that it was limited to.
The Swedish Public Health Agency initially did not recommend wearing a mask, saying that 'there is little scientific evidence that wearing a mask suppresses the spread of infection.' However, a study conducted on 600 villages actually showed that 'wearing a mask reduces the number of infected people on a village-by-village basis' and 'not in schools that are obliged to wear masks and in schools that do not.' Schools are overwhelmingly more likely to spread COVID-19 infection, 'the research results have also been reported.
'Wearing a mask' certainly reduces the number of people infected with COVID-19 in experiments with 600 villages-GIGAZINE
The authors of the paper not only spread fear among people by saying that the Swedish Public Health Agency did not recommend the use of masks and that they were ineffective, but also 'how the infection of COVID-19 spreads.' He points out that he gave false information about 'there is an asymptomatic infected person' and 'wearing a mask protects himself and others around him'.
The paper also mentions that 'the information conveyed by the Public Health Agency was not transparent,' the number of ICU beds in each region was not disclosed, and the new coronavirus was found in schools. He pointed out that even if there were positive students, the information would not be communicated to other parents and teachers. In addition, some local governments did not disclose the number of deaths in long-term care facilities and hospitals, and attempts were made to intentionally conceal the mortality rate of local governments.
Sweden is a country where scientists and the government have built a cooperative relationship for many years and the people have a high degree of confidence in science, but in the COVID-19 pandemic, the government wants to spread the legitimacy of the policy to the people. There was a composition to use.
For example, scientists hired by the COVID-19 Advisory Group, formed by the Public Health Agency in April 2020, have all argued in line with the Swedish government's policy and are subject to the strict regulations WHO has called for. None of the scientists who spoke along were hired. In addition, the expert group formed in February 2020 by the Karolinska Institute, one of Sweden's leading medical research institutes, also had a clear connection with the Public Health Agency. 'The Swedish people were convinced that each of the experts had individually reached the same conclusion that'Swedish's own strategy is right',' the authors of the treatise said. Scientists who support these public health agencies and governments have cherry-picked only those research results on COVID-19 that are convenient for them, and ignored the large amount of evidence that disproves them.
In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 'an attempt to crush medical researchers who oppose the government policy' was also made. On March 3, 2020, international virology authority
Society as a whole has created an atmosphere in which Sweden's pandemic policy cannot be questioned. Researchers who criticized Sweden's response were reprimanded by their bosses for saying, 'I can't allow you to say such an opinion using the name of the university' and 'I hurt the authorities.' They pointed out that 'it clearly violates the right to freedom of speech (in academia).'
Sweden's COVID-19 policy thus maintained has resulted in 'a prominent death toll compared to the surrounding Nordic countries.' The following is a graph showing 'COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people' from March 2020 to March 2022. Blue is Sweden, green is Denmark, red is Norway, and purple is Finland. Although there are times when the death toll in Norway and Finland temporarily exceeds that of Sweden, it can be seen that the death toll in Sweden is overwhelmingly high overall. There is no evidence that Sweden has achieved the initial 'herd immunity'.
The authors point out that transparency and accurate information to the public were not priorities in Sweden's COVID-19 response, and most messages were aimed at not increasing public fear and social unrest. 'Sweden's response to this pandemic is unique and characterized by a morally, ethically and scientifically problematic laissez-faire approach. The focus was on preserving the image of Sweden. '' We did not admit failure at all government levels and did not take responsibility for the consequences that were clearly harmful to Swedish society. ' 'The Swedish authorities involved did not criticize themselves, did not engage in any formal and open dialogue, concealed the correct information, and even disseminated misleading information to deceive the public,' he said. I criticized it bitterly.
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