The second wave is hitting Sweden, a country that did not believe in total lockdown, as Prime Minister Lofven said. There have been significantly more people with COVID-19 in the hospitals as well as growing numbers of daily new cases.
Lofven said in a press release to not go to gyms, libraries, or dinners. He also cut down the public gatherings from an upper limit of 50 people to eight people. It applies to sporting events and concerts. This ban only applies to public gatherings however, not to private gatherings. This limit could be extended over Christmas time and New Years.
During the second wave for Sweden, the resurgence hit much later. This is in stark construct to the summer where the daily death toll was in single digits, and a semblance of normality of found.
Sweden is known for having a different approach to the pandemic, refusing to rely on lockdowns, face masks. Instead, the Swedes ask for voluntary actions and have drafted up guidelines for voluntary lockdown. Such recommendations include washing hands, social distance, and work from home. They’ve also added avoiding public transportation to their recommendations.
Sweden has death rates 10x much higher than Norway and Finland. As of now, there have been 6,164 deaths and 177,355 cases on November 15 - significantly less than the United States.
However, these new restrictions will no longer simply be voluntary recommendations, but part of the law under Sweden’s Public Order Act. If broken, people could face fines or six months in prison.
-Fan
Sources:
https://www.ft.com/content/67fc5152-d500-4b9e-ad5c-79e1bf2b68e2
https://news.trust.org/item/20201116135516-ilta9/
No comments:
Post a Comment