Why Sweden Isn't Locking Down

Enlarge this image JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images

Cities and countries all around the world are locking down and sheltering in, courting economic disaster in the name of halting the spread of the coronavirus that has claimed thousands of lives.

The lockdowns have come at a great cost. Another 6 million more people filed for unemployment in the U.S. last week, which means, in the last few weeks, at least 16 million people have lost their jobs in the U.S. alone. Other countries are having it just as bad.

But not every country is taking this approach to inhibiting the spread of COVID-19. While most of the world is locking down, rolling up the sidewalks and sheltering in, Sweden has made the controversial decision not to shut down its economy. There are no mandatory quarantines. Museums, bars, restaurants, gyms, schools and even nightclubs are open for business. Today we talk to Sweden's head epidemiologist about why Sweden won't lock its cities down and what the effects have been so far.

Music: "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" by ABBA

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