Herd immunity strategy-Swedish state epidemiologist admit it was a mistake

 Too many people have died under his strategy says Anders Tegnel  

The man who was behind the Swedish strategy of herd immunity and deiced not to impose strict lockdown has finally admitted that it was a mistake. He also admitted that that too many lives lost due to this strategy.

 Anders Tegnell, Swedish state epidemiologist admits it did get it wrong on coronavirus: Expert behind country's refusal to enter lockdown says he would have imposed tougher restrictions “if we knew what we know now.”

Sweden has officially recorded 38,589 cases of coronavirus and 4,468 deaths from the disease. That is far above the case and death tolls seen in other Nordic countries which did go into full lockdown, even when population size is taken into account. In fact, during the week to May 29, Sweden had the highest death rate per capita of any country in the world.

                                                                  

That has led to mounting anger at home, with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announcing on Monday that a planned inquiry into the lockdown will be launched sooner than anticipated.

Lofven had previously said an inquiry would begin once the pandemic is over, but now says it will begin before the summer.

Sweden decided to remain open the Parks, shops, bars, cafes, public transport, businesses and industries throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the education institutions were closed down.

Anders Tegnell, who was behind the decision to shun full lockdown in favour of voluntary social distancing measures, now admits that too many people have died under his strategy. Asked to battle the same disease again with the benefit of hindsight, Tegnell said he would bring in tougher measures to slow the spread.

However, he still believes that full lockdowns of the kind seen in other European countries during the outbreak were unnecessary. Sweden has seen consistently higher daily death tolls than all of its Nordic neighbours who went into full lockdown.

Speaking to media he said: 'Should we encounter the same disease, with exactly what we know about it today, I think we would land in doing midway between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world did.'

Maybe we will get to know that now when you start removing measures one by one, and perhaps that will teach us some kind of lesson about what else, besides what we did, you could do without a full lockdown,' he added.

                                                 

Tegnell has previously admitted mistakes in his strategy - including not doing more to protect the elderly and those care homes - but has until now defended his decision to largely avoid mandatory lockdown measures. 

Sweden has advised people to wear masks and keep 2 meter social distance, but has not brought in laws to force people to comply. The only official rules in place are a ban on gatherings of 50 people or more and a ban on visitors to care homes.

Tegnell's middle-ground approach is being echoed in other countries which did go into full lockdown, including in neighbouring Norway. Many experts oppose the lockdown strategy and used Sweden as an example of alternative model.