Coronavirus: Thread

[grarpamp]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/swedens-death-rate-among-lowest-europe-despite-avoiding-strict/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/02/trusting-people-do-right-thing-saved-lives-covid-lockdowns/

Sweden Pandemic Deaths Among Lowest In Europe -- All While Avoiding
Strict Lockdowns

Sweden logged one of the lowest Covid-19 death rates in Europe, all
while avoiding strict economy-killing lockdowns that led to economic
chaos across the world, the Telegraph reports, citing new figures from
the World Health Organization.

    Sweden, which was criticised in the early stages of the pandemic
for resisting a mandatory lockdown, had fewer deaths per capita than
much of Europe.

    In 2020 and 2021, the country had an average excess death rate of
56 per 100,000 - compared to 109 in the UK, 111 in Spain, 116 in
Germany and 133 in Italy. -Telegraph

As the Telegraph delicately notes - "Experts said the difference
demonstrated stringent lockdowns alone did not determine success when
battling Covid-19."

So what's Sweden's secret?

The Telegraph suggests that things such as lower obesity and better
general health played a factor - which is certainly true.

"The lesson from Sweden is to invest in your population's health and
have less inequality," said Prof Devi Sridhar, the chairman of global
public health at the University of Edinburgh.

Meanwhile in the strictly locked-down UK, "there have been too many
preventable deaths," according to Dr Michael Head, a senior research
fellow in global health at the University of Southampton. "By the end
of the pandemic, it's likely that the UK will probably end up
mid-table on various metrics that measure pandemic performance, such
as excess mortality," he added.

In fact, some 68% of deaths during the pandemic came from just 10
countries, including the United States, Russia and India.

    But Colin Angus, a modeller at the University of Sheffield who was
not involved in the study, said the WHO’s methodology “looks entirely
sensible”, adding that excess death estimates are critical to hold
governments to account.

    The figures were compiled by a panel made up of international
experts who have been working on the data for months, using a
combination of national and local information, as well as statistical
models, to estimate totals where the data are incomplete. -Telegraph

Of course, we've known for a while that enough evidence exists to
question the effectiveness of lockdowns.

Peer-Reviewed Study "Did Not Find Evidence" Lockdowns Were Effective
In Stopping COVID Spread
Statistician: Lockdowns Don't Work Because They Force People To
Congregate In Fewer Places
Another Study Shows—Yet Again—That Lockdowns Don't Work
Anti-Lockdown States Performed Better Than New York & California,
Think Tank Finds
It Was The Lockdowns, Not The Pandemic That Created The Havoc

Now imagine policymakers ever admitting they were wrong as we suffer
through an inflationary hangover.