Sweden's No-Lockdown Covid Strategy Vindicated

Sweden’s no-lockdown Covid strategy vindicated

Thomas Lifson

Alone among the advanced countries of the world, Sweden followed the sensible policy for dealing with a highly transmissible virus with a 99%+ survival rate, dangerous mostly to easily identifiable groups – the elderly and those with co-morbidities. It allowed the population at minimal risk to carry on life as usual, and restricted movements and otherwise protected only those at elevated risk. As the rest of the advanced world locked down, life for almost all Swedes went on as normal.

The result: herd immunity spread. Sweden’s economy avoided the catastrophic harm inflicted elsewhere.

And now we see that Sweden’s approach (which, incidentally, is how all previous pandemics have been handled) has been vindicated. John Miltimore writes for the Foundation for Economic Education:

 In contrast to its European neighbors, Sweden is welcoming tourists. Businesses and schools are open with almost no restrictions. And as far as masks are concerned, not only is there no mandate in place, Swedish health officials are not even recommending them.

What are the results of Sweden’s much-derided laissez-faire policy? Data show the 7-day rolling average for COVID deaths yesterday was zero (see below). As in nada. And it’s been at zero for about a week now.

Sweden’s overall mortality rate in 2020 was lower than most of Europe and its economy suffered far less. Meanwhile, today Sweden is freer and healthier than virtually any other country in Europe.

Meanwhile, Australia is severely locking down half of the country’s population in a panic over the delta variant’s spread, as other nations are panicking over less-lethal variant, hysterically touting the rise in “cases” (otherwise known as positive PCR tests), most of which are asymptomatic, and which build herd immunity.

Therapies for Covid using ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and other substances, are available and are increasingly recognized and used, despite studied medical establishment disinterest in testing and proving their effectiveness, and even efforts to suppress their use.

Covid is the first epidemic in history in which the healthy population was locked down, and it is not even that lethal for most people. How that happened is a key question for discussion and, of course, is almost never even raised in the media. But Sweden’s success in using common sense, time-tested practice of focusing on the vulnerable and leaving the rest alone is now vindicated, while those countries that failed to build herd immunity as fast continue to suffer, and even redouble their bad bet of locking down.

The leaders who grabbed dictatorial authority and crushed the livelihoods of countless citizens, who permanently harmed the mental and emotional development of children, and who violated common sense and historical precedent, have a lot to answer for. The very lack of outrage and demands for accountability tell us a lot about the autocratic elites that control the major institutions of the advanced nations of the world.

Update: Michael Thau examines the process by which lockdowns were embraced and China's role in promoting them.