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Mr. Sparkle

(2,915 posts)
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 11:47 AM Jun 2020

Too many died, says man behind Swedens virus plan

Source: BBC

Sweden's controversial decision not to impose a strict lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic led to too many deaths, the man behind the policy, Anders Tegnell, has acknowledged. Sweden has seen a far higher mortality rate than its nearest neighbours and its nationals are being barred from crossing their borders.

Dr Tegnell told Swedish radio more should have been done early on. "There is quite obviously a potential for improvement in what we have done." Sweden has counted 4,542 deaths and 40,803 infections in a population of 10 million, while Denmark, Norway and Finland have imposed lockdowns and seen far lower rates. Denmark has seen 580 deaths, Norway has had 237 deaths and Finland 321. Sweden reported a further 74 deaths on Wednesday.

Dr Tegnell, who is Sweden's state epidemiologist and in charge of the country's response to Covid-19, has told Swedish public radio: "If we were to encounter the same disease again, knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would settle on doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done." When asked if too many people had died too soon, Dr Tegnell said, "Yes, absolutely." While Sweden's approach had been to increase its response step by step, other countries had imposed immediate lockdowns and gradually reopened.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52903717

29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Too many died, says man behind Swedens virus plan (Original Post) Mr. Sparkle Jun 2020 OP
Much of the narrative out there is still how successful Sweden was in dealing still_one Jun 2020 #1
I know. It's sickening Proud Liberal Dem Jun 2020 #5
At least here it is the right who are pushing its success still_one Jun 2020 #7
True Proud Liberal Dem Jun 2020 #8
+++ still_one Jun 2020 #9
Not really, swedes are ultra-leftists and have made no secret of their contempt for older people ansible Jun 2020 #26
Huh? Proud Liberal Dem Jun 2020 #28
"...knowing exactly what we know about it today..." lagomorph777 Jun 2020 #2
Same damned excuse that Trump has repeatedly given Proud Liberal Dem Jun 2020 #6
Yes, we lay people knew, how could Tegnell not? SunSeeker Jun 2020 #19
I KNOW!!! SkyDaddy7 Jun 2020 #29
If your "plan" involves letting people get sick from an unknown virus Blues Heron Jun 2020 #3
Sweden was the outlier Pantagruel Jun 2020 #4
they rolled the dice Roc2020 Jun 2020 #10
There really wasn't any good plan for tackling this thing. Initech Jun 2020 #11
No good plans, but some were clearly worse than others. cos dem Jun 2020 #16
BULL. South Korea's plan was (and is) good. SunSeeker Jun 2020 #20
Yes, I agree, we should have followed South Korea or New Zealand's lead. Initech Jun 2020 #22
If Trump had done the right thing, the MAGAts would have complied. SunSeeker Jun 2020 #24
Yes, I agree. This is entirely on him. Initech Jun 2020 #25
Fox is just doing what Trump wants. This is all on Trump. SunSeeker Jun 2020 #27
This comment should be an OP. LittleGirl Jun 2020 #23
"There is quite obviously a potential for improvement in what we have done." Hiawatha Pete Jun 2020 #12
Tegnell is an arrogant ass. nt SunSeeker Jun 2020 #21
I knew this would blow back in their face. C Moon Jun 2020 #13
U.S. Equivalent of 150,000 Deaths ProfessorGAC Jun 2020 #14
No one could have seen this coming. No one IronLionZion Jun 2020 #15
Hold on...you're never supposed to admit error, never apologize. This guy could benefit from a Karadeniz Jun 2020 #17
K & R N/T w0nderer Jun 2020 #18

Proud Liberal Dem

(24,355 posts)
5. I know. It's sickening
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 12:14 PM
Jun 2020

For being a seemingly more progressive European country, their decision to try to just let it burn through with little or no public health restrictions is sort of puzzling. However, it's not hard to understand why it seems appealing to right-wingers seeking "freedumb". It's perhaps the only instance I can think of where right-wingers actually want the US to be like a European country, which is hella revealing

lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)
2. "...knowing exactly what we know about it today..."
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 11:54 AM
Jun 2020

Asshole, you DID know exactly what you know today. Every responsible epidemiologist in the world warned you.

SunSeeker

(51,378 posts)
19. Yes, we lay people knew, how could Tegnell not?
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 05:48 PM
Jun 2020

Didn't he see the videos coming out of China in January showing choas as huge desperate crowds besieged Wuhan hospitals?

SkyDaddy7

(6,045 posts)
29. I KNOW!!!
Thu Jun 4, 2020, 01:36 AM
Jun 2020

That kind of BS pisses me off! He knew back then but thought he knew BETTER!! ...Like you said, "ASSHOLE!"

 

Pantagruel

(2,580 posts)
4. Sweden was the outlier
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 12:12 PM
Jun 2020

At least the dead Swedes tragically provide the rest of the world a lesson on dealing with a a pandemic.Hopefully, it's lesson learned for the next inevitable outbreak.

Initech

(99,915 posts)
11. There really wasn't any good plan for tackling this thing.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 01:13 PM
Jun 2020

Every scenario was pretty much a gamble, whether it was the economy or whether it was people's lives. This is something we have never seen before.

cos dem

(895 posts)
16. No good plans, but some were clearly worse than others.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:39 PM
Jun 2020

UK figured out early on this approach was a bad idea.

SunSeeker

(51,378 posts)
20. BULL. South Korea's plan was (and is) good.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 06:02 PM
Jun 2020

They controlled the outbreak without shutting down their economy, without closing factories and restaurants. How? Mass testing, contacting tracing and targeted quarantining of the ill. And universal mask wearing. It's not rocket science. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/26/821688981/how-south-korea-reigned-in-the-outbreak-without-shutting-everything-down Not only did their testing program save their economy, it saved lives. They've lost only 273 people, we've lost 109,000, and we're still losing thousands every few days. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/coronavirus/ Granted we have 6.5 times the population of South Korea, but if we had done what they did, we'd have lost only about 6.5×273 or about 1,775 people, and our economy would not be in tatters. 

I am so fucking sick of hearing that this was inevitable, especially on a progressive board.

Initech

(99,915 posts)
22. Yes, I agree, we should have followed South Korea or New Zealand's lead.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 06:18 PM
Jun 2020

And then this shithead virus wouldn't be a thing anymore. But our biggest problem is that half of the country won't listen to the other half, and wants us dead. No matter how much we try to convince them that this is the right thing to do.

SunSeeker

(51,378 posts)
24. If Trump had done the right thing, the MAGAts would have complied.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 06:23 PM
Jun 2020

This was not inevitable. Trump did this to us.

Initech

(99,915 posts)
25. Yes, I agree. This is entirely on him.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 06:37 PM
Jun 2020

And Fox News too, let's not forget how much they tried to downplay the severity of the threat.

SunSeeker

(51,378 posts)
27. Fox is just doing what Trump wants. This is all on Trump.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 08:41 PM
Jun 2020

At the beginning when he called it a hoax, so did they. Then for a brief spell in late March/early April when he called it a pandemic and was on TV every day doing press conferences, they immediately got on board with that and took it seriously. But then he switched to wanting to open everything up and downplayed the risk again, and they immediately switched gears, mimicking his "Liberate Michigan" bullshit. They are his PR department.

Hiawatha Pete

(1,767 posts)
12. "There is quite obviously a potential for improvement in what we have done."
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 01:30 PM
Jun 2020

Nice, sanitized response.

So how exactly do you propose to make the thousands dead [as a result of Sweden's policy] come back to life, Mr Tegnell?

C Moon

(12,188 posts)
13. I knew this would blow back in their face.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 01:36 PM
Jun 2020

That's terrible. Those were probably mostly elderly and others with existing health problems.
They suffered on ventilators and died (and others will never be the same) while the government experimented.

ProfessorGAC

(64,427 posts)
14. U.S. Equivalent of 150,000 Deaths
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:30 PM
Jun 2020

And we were late to mitigate. If we did earlier what we finally did, our deaths would be 60% of what they are.
Their plan is not "sort of OK". It's a dismal failure.

Karadeniz

(22,283 posts)
17. Hold on...you're never supposed to admit error, never apologize. This guy could benefit from a
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:51 PM
Jun 2020

Few late night calls with Putin, like our leader!

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