Oops: Man Behind Sweden’s Controversial Virus Strategy Admits Mistakes

This is good news because at least it stops people from saying we should’ve done nothing.

One of the most bizarre covid-related moments of the past few weeks, was when the WHO praised Sweden's pandemic strategy, despite the double fact that it went against WHO's recommendations and that Sweden's death rate was already worse than that of its neighbors.

What were they thinking? were they just playing politics?

[quote] If we were to encounter the same illness with the same knowledge that we have today, I think our response would land somewhere in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done...

WTF?? Public Health has dealt with pandemics and knows how to deal with them. This isn't some unknown. Government usually have plans for dealing with this exact situation.

But I thought Sweden was "winning" (as that other thread from some time ago claimed)...

A large group of scientists in Sweden opposed his strategy from the beginning. I've been following a You Tube channel of a guy named Marcus Carlsson, who is a mathematician at Lund University because I have friends in Stockholm and and in rural southern Sweden. They thought this guy was totally, totally wrong and basically willing to "let Grandma die" to keep the economy open. Many more old people in nursing homes died in Sweden than should have opened. Meanwhile, Sweden had their PR machine going in the US and at WHO saying how great a model they were. Carlsson's puts out a video in Swedish and another in English on the same subject (some of the Swedish ones are not duplicated though). Check him out, especially his first one.

r5 again: By "this guy" I mean Anders Tegnell, the health minister who was in charge of the Swedish policy. Norway had a strict and early lockdown and maybe a 10th of the cases and very few deaths and have already re-opened their economy. Tegnell was basically gambling with people's lives to show how cool he was and how great Swedes were that they didn't need basic public health rules like everywhere else in the world.

How’s their economy doing? Probably not much better than the rest of Europe. Don’t get me wrong, this experiment proves they were foolish.

[quote]potential for improvement.

That’s putting it mildly, Mr. Noah Shit.

And nothing will happen to him. It’s easier for a black man to hail a cab in Bay Ridge than to get fired from a job in Sweden.

Oh, he ain’t gettin a cab in Bay Ridge, let me tell...oh, I see. Never mind.

Well, the pretty, blonde affluent Swedes are spending the next 3-4 months at their summer homes on the islands, leaving the darks and poors behind in their crowded tower blocks on the edges of Malmo, Stockholm, and Gothernburg. Only they will get sick and die.

It wasn't the WHO r2, but one WHO doctor who was being asked about Sweden in a critical way and in typical WHO manner he did not want to offend a WHO country (think of how much WHO representatives have gone out of their way not to offend China) so just gave some garbled answer that has been misinterpreted.

He did not in fact praise Sweden's strategy, he said that Sweden's strategy might be a model for other countries post-lockdown. In other words, he wasn't praising the idea of not having a lockdown but just coming up with a platitude about how some of what Sweden is doing could be useful as we try to return to normality. He also emphasised that Sweden was in fact implementing restrictive measures against the virus.

R6, Tegnell isn't the Health Minister, he is the state epidemiologist based at the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

r12 Thanks. That's less bad, though bad nonetheless.

r6: That's right. I had a feeling he had some other title. But he's been the one behind this controversial policy in Sweden. I hope he gets shit-canned but I don't know how Sweden works politically. Probably needs a change in ruling party or something?

The deaths were worse than Ebola.

And Sweden gained nothing— not a better economy, not closer to herd immunity than the rest of the world.

His strategy was an abject failure

"'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,' Tegnell said. It would be 'good to know exactly what to shut down to curb the spread of infection better', he added." (From The Guardian.)

Hmmm...how about anyplace where people congregate? Like businesses, parks, theaters, cafes, restaurants, churches, etc.? How moronic can this guy Tegnell be? This seems unusually stupid behavior from a country that I thought was on of the more intelligent countries in the world.

Sweden’s death rate per capita was the highest in the world over the seven days to June 2. Further proof that lockdowns, closures, enforced social distancing and masks and gloves actually work, as opposed to doing none of those things during a pandemic.

R16 You mean his 'experiment' was an abject failure. Tegnell may want to call it a 'strategy' but it was a fucking sadistic experiment played right of the 'Nazi Book of Medical Experiments' by Josef Mengele.

Smug sociopaths actually admit they're wrong? Wow.

He doesn't even entirely take responsibility for just how stupid and wrong he was. He qualifies it by actually saying he doesn't know how he could have made the situation any better, then walks back his error in judgment by saying he still thinks the situation in Sweden is actually okay.

Funny when deplorables hold up signs "We should do it like Sweden!"

Sweden's experiment was a failure.

Its strong social safetynet like healthcare for all holds that country together during the epidemic

Sweden is about to haemorrhage foreign skilled workers.

They will be paying for their bone-headed strategy and Tegnell's hubris for some time. Countries may shut their borders to Sweden movement as they start to reopen after lockdown.

"He doesn't even entirely take responsibility for just how stupid and wrong he was. "

Men never do.

R23, exactly. It's the fact that Sweden is now seeing repercussions from other countries to its policy that Tegnell has been forced into a half-hearted mea culpa.

Sweden is now completely overhauling its testing policy, from doing as little testing as possible to free testing for anyone with symptoms and contact tracing. Swedish politicians allowed themselves to be too controlled by their "experts".

God helfen Lars

Oh cut the Swedes some slack! Best sex I EVER had was at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. Swedes are polite, good-looking and very adventurous in bed.

Great, R27! Why don't you go back there and try your luck now?

[quote]'Nazi Book of Medical Experiments' by Josef Mengele.

Kindle?

R25 I believe that the politicians had no say and had to take the advise from Tegnell and act on it as he directed. But the whole coronavirus mess has been handled badly by most Governments just some worst than others. Even countries like Australia and New Zealand could have acted more swiftly - distance and an excellent bio-security system which included aggressive testing, tracking and quarantine all helped but if their Governments had acted a few weeks earlier, particularly Australia they may have come out of lockdown earlier.

Still Tegnell is damaged goods now and rightfully so. One of the most important codes of medicine: first do no harm. He basically let people die. Along with Trump, that mad Brazilian president and some others, Tegnell should probably be tried for crimes against humanity. Wilful policies that directly result on the deaths on hundreds and thousands of people is unacceptable.

What did the king say when asked about the situation?

"Börk börk börk"

Italy is off the hook because they were the canary in the coal mine. Everybody was learning from them and the lockdowns were all modelled on the Italian experience.

[quote]I believe that the politicians had no say and had to take the advise from Tegnell and act on it as he directed

They also stubbornly stuck to their guns for a long time.

You guys are missing the biggest point, which is, at least in Sweden's case, herd immunity does not appear to exist. The evidence is damning. It suggests, unless the virus peters out on its own with the advent of summer or an effective vaccine is created within the next 6 - 12 months, it's likely everyone on the entire planet will eventually become infected and at some point there will not be enough healthcare workers to treat the sick.

[quote]I believe that the politicians had no say and had to take the advise from Tegnell and act on it as he directed

This is bullshit. He's just a technocrat. It's politicians who wield power. They chose to listen to him, and did so because he offered easy advice - "don't change anything to drastically, keep the economy open".

Again, Swedes are a very compliant population. Like North Korea. They’re very prone to being led over a cliff like lemmings.

R35, the Swedish constitution makes it extremely difficult for government ministers to overrule the recommendations of a public agency.

[quote] It is written into the national constitution that Sweden's public agencies are independent of the government. There are two main goals of this: ensuring that decisions are made based on knowledge and expertise, and limiting corruption, because ministers cannot have influence in agency decision-making.

[quote]A minister who tries to issue direct commands to an agency over how to handle a specific issue -- either an individual case, or day-to-day decision-making -- could find themselves accused of 'ministerial rule' (ministerstyre) by political opponents. Overruling government agencies or disregarding their advice is usually seen as politically risky, even though it's not specifically forbidden in most circumstances.

R37 Thank you. And to R35 you will note that I wrote 'I believe'. I wasn't 100% sure what the situation in Sweden was into the responsibility of the health measures taken but did recall reading a number of times that it was basically left up to Tegnell in line with the Swedish constitution. Doesn't say much for Tegnell's abilities really.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Sweden didn’t lockdown, but economy to plunge anyway.

Yep. Sweden's economy fell by pretty much the same amount as neighbours Norway, Finland & Denmark who didn't kill off thousands of their citizens in the process.

The thing about the economic downturn occurring world wide is that lockdown or not all economies are going to suffer - if somebody like myself who has zero interest or knowledge in economic matters could see that would happen once China placed Wuhan in lockdown its an embarrassment of major proportions for 'experts' who didn't see that coming.

The world's economy is so intertwined.

Has Anders gone into hiding?

Swedes are like a nation of compliant zombies. Polls show the government isn’t getting much backlash over their mishandling COVID. But expats are planning to relocate.

Can't even admit he was wrong without "explanations."

^ Very Swedish trait, r44.

Do tell, r5.

Rhapsody in Swede

Sweden now whining about being treated like a pariah state by other Nordic countries.

[quote]But then came the pandemic. The issue of Sweden’s pariah status was hotly debated recently on a popular Scandinavian radio program, “A Norwegian, a Swede and a Dane,” which broadcasts weekly in all three countries.

[quote]“We can’t visit Norway. We can’t go to Denmark,” said Asa Linderborg, a journalist with a leading Swedish paper, Aftonbladet, adding that even Finland had barred Swedes.

[quote]“We are supposed to sit here in our corner of shame, and the worst part is that you’re savoring it,” she said, referring to Sweden’s neighbors. “All Norwegians, all Danes and all Finns are loving that the Swedes aren’t welcome anywhere. I long for you, yet you don’t long for me.”

Anders Tegnell thinks that a second wave will prove that Sweden has higher immunity, though he's backed down from the herd-immunity goal.

Sweden now finds itself as one of 11 "European" countries that are seeing a significant rise in new infections. None of the other 10 is a member of the EU/EEA, however, only Sweden.

[quote]"In 11 of these countries, accelerated transmission has led to very significant resurgence that if left unchecked will push health systems to the brink once again."

[quote]The 11 countries were later identified by the WHO as Armenia, Sweden, Moldova, North Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Kosovo.

Try to find a Swede who'll admit they were wrong to your face.

R49 Apparently Anders is furious that Sweden is being lumped in with those other countries. He rejects the statement by the WHO.

Why was this asshole the sole arbiter of what went down? He's the chief epidemiologist, but he doesn't run the country. Was there no one else involved in this monumental decision? And why hasn't this asshole been replaced?

Go back and re-read the thread, R52. It's explained that Sweden's system puts science above politics, and until they filled the scientific positions with idiots, it worked. Kind of like how here in the US, until this president, we considered qualifications, experience and know-how above racism, bigotry, sexism and xenophobia.

Sweden may well put science over politics, but he's not the only epidemiologist in the country. Doesn't he have to answer to somebody?

Please tell me that sweet little evil Prince Oscar and his hot, hot, uncle Prince Carl Philip haven't been affected.

He's the chief epidemiologist, his word is final.

No take backs!

Well, R56, if enough Swedes get sick, the chief epidemiologist will be forced out. Don't tell me he has total authority and answers to no one in Sweden.

Australian TV has been doing a weekly episode on areas and countries around the world dealing with COVID. We have already had China, New York, Northern Italy, Russia, the UK. Tonight it is Sweden.

The reporters are brave going out there reporting on this. I expect it to be a takedown of Tegnell.

There is a youtube channel I've been following since early on (March) run by Magnus Carlsson, who opposed Sweden's policy from the getgo. There are a group of Swedish scientists including him (he's a university mathematician), who publicly opposed Tegnell's policy in at least late March, early April and it was printed in major Swedish paper(s). But Sweden does PR all over the world (that became obvious after a while watching all the glowing reports about the "Swedish model". Anyway, on his channel he has a TV special from Italy from at least a month ago that reported on Sweden's covid response. The Italian report was highly critical, rightly so considering all they went through. I know Carlsson's channel is available on YouTube in Sweden because most his videos are in Swedish with some also in English versions. There is also a Swedish MD who has been highly critical and has been campaigning against the Swedish official line. Don't remember his name. Swedes seem to be sheep in that they are were willing to mass protest for George Floyd but have not been willing to protest against their own prime minister and this guy Tegnell.

All you can do is slow the process, you can't prevent it. Unless you live in a bunker underground, you'll eventually encounter it.

There is no vaccine.

R61, is that some kind of lame support of this douchebag?

No r62 it’s the truth.

No, it isn't, genius R63. You're stating there will be a 100% exposure rate? There is no vaccine--yet. There may be, there may not be. FOH, fool.

R64 why are we social distancing? Hint: it’s not to prevent you from getting the infected, it’s to prevent everyone from getting infected all at once.

The guy is an idiot. It will come home to roost for him eventually.

No, dear, R65. It's to prevent individuals from getting infected and in turn spreading it.

We social distanced back in March to keep hospitals ICUs from being overwhelmed , which has happened in a lot of places that have covidiot Rethug governors and are now paying the price. It's exhausting to repeat what has been in the sane mainstream media constantly since March.

BTW if you've ever seen video of Tegnell, he looks like an arrogant SOB. A face you'd love to punch. I wouldn't care about Sweden but I have a childhood friend married to a Swede who lives there (and also his nephew coincidentally married to a Swedish girl in Stockholm with a couple of kids) so I started following this early on.

NYT says Sweden has become the world’s cautionary tale.

R68

But aren’t the US and Brazil doing worse?

Sweden is doing worse than its neighbours.

What a mess.

History may confirm what seems to be true so far... the "herd immunity, let life continue as normal, the cost to the economy is worse than a limited percentage of dead...." mentality, was the very wrong way to respond to covid.

Time will tell.

I have to admit the rest of world probably owes Anders a big thank you. If Sweden had not gone down the path they did the rest of the world would not have seen how it was Sweden's choice was even more disastrous.

Excuse me, R73, and we don't like to brag (ha ha!), but when it comes to the most disastrous handling of this virus (and so many other things!), we would have to say: look no further than...

Sweden gets way more credit for everything than they actually deserve.

...........

Sweden's daily COVID cases hit highest cases since June.

Smug Sweden - ticking back up in a big way.

"We're going to go with herd immunity because it's counterintuitive and we'll show how smart we are when it works out."

Yeah, OK. God forbid you follow the example of Taiwan and S. Korea. Dummies.

Italy, who suffered the worst at the start, issued the strictest lockdown measures in Europe, and it's worked for them. Big turnaround.

All signs point to a second wave worldwide.