Two weeks ago Swedish state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell ruled supreme in Sweden. Almost literally. The Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, was rarely seen whereas Mr Tegnell hosted a daily press conference.

The number of deaths in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland had not yet started to deviate sharply. Mr Tegnell claimed that the Swedish Health Agency was on top of the latest and most reliable facts and models. During a period of hysteria, he was widely hailed as a hero for his calm and seemingly scientific focus. Schools, workplaces and restaurants remained open.

Old people, claimed Tegnell, would be fine if younger Swedes refrained from visiting their elderly parents in retirement homes. Surely no one responsible for the health of a nation could be so certain that stricter measures were unnecessary? Unless also certain that Swedish circumstances really are special? Not when death curves were rising exponentially in other countries? Mr Tegnell had to be right, so therefore every critical non-Swedish expert had to be wrong.

This was a widely held view because, in consensus-oriented Sweden, no other views were taken seriously, until death rates started creeping up. Finland now counts 72 dead, Norway 150 and Denmark (the by far most densely populated Nordic country) 321. Sweden? 1333. Moreover, the Coronavirus has spread to a large number of retirement homes. Why? Because carers have proven to have little or no protective equipment, thereby making nonsense of the claim that the low level of intergenerational mixing in Sweden would protect the elderly.