As the COVID-19 crisis continues to dominate the national conversation, divisions over the best strategy to deal with the outbreak are getting deeper and more heated. That is certainly the case as far as the debate over lockdowns. Those who have been skeptical about the measure since the beginning often point to Sweden as the preferable alternative to the restrictions implemented in the United States.
Below is a very interesting interview with Swedish Professor Johan Giesecke, one of the world’s most senior epidemiologists and advisor to the Swedish Government. He argues that lockdowns are the wrong policy and describes the strategy behind the Swedish model:
Americans who have grabbed on to the Swedish model have the impression that no restrictions were put in place. Professor Giesecke states, at the beginning of the interview, that people were advised to stay at home and were largely complying on their own; no crowds larger than 50 people are allowed; higher education schools are closed; visitors to nursing homes or other facilities for the elderly have been banned. Later in the interview, Professor Giesecke states that regulations require restaurants to keep patrons at least 5 feet apart; food must be served hot; customers are not allowed to stand even if all they are having is a drink. When a couple of restaurants did not comply, the health authorities shut them down and that caused other restaurants to toe the line. So much for Sweden having no rules!
For the most part, the measures implemented in Sweden are very similar to what has been done in the United States. Despite the hysterics coming from the libertarian fringe, Americans have been going to the store to buy food and medicine without being hassled by the police. The main difference is that Swedish society is high trust and conformist. In other words, the opposite of America. In Sweden, people will comply with government orders on their own and that is why there are no clips of Swedish mothers being arrested at a closed playground circulating social media. I also suspect that Sweden doesn’t have Patrick Henry wannabes trying to fight the second revolutionary war.
Those arguing against the lockdowns do so in the name of saving the economy. However, when Professor Giesecke was asked about the long term effects of lockdowns, he never mentioned economic costs. His main concern was authoritarian trends in Eastern Europe and specifically mentioned Viktor Orbán. Of course, the professor’s personal concerns does not mean that the Swedish government opted for more moderate measures to prevent the rise of dictatorships in Eastern Europe. The Swedish government probably did take economic costs associated with a harsh lockdown into consideration. So how is the Swedish economy doing? Restaurants and hotels have been devastated by COVID-19. Apparel sales have tumbled despite no shutdown orders. Maybe that’s why professor Giesecke didn’t mention the economy. Lockdowns or no lockdowns COVID-19 is going to negatively impact the economy.
