A group of scientists have slammed the Swedish government’s coronavirus strategy after the country recorded over 1,500 deaths.

Writing in publication Dagens Nyheter, 22 researchers from a range of top Swedish universities and research institutes criticised the Swedish Public Health Agency and called on politicians to intervene with “swift and radical measures” to prevent further deaths.

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Unlike other countries, Sweden has not implemented a coronavirus lockdown – instead choosing to keep schools and restaurants open.

The Public Health Agency – an external body overseen by the government that has managed the country’s response so far – seems to be chasing herd immunity, by letting the disease pass through the population.

Herd immunity relies on a large number (usually 60%+) of the population being infected with a disease (or, ideally, vaccinated), so transmission then begins to drop.

However, in the meantime, deadly viruses can inflict a large number of deaths – as we have seen in Sweden.

Indeed, the protesting scientists have noted that neighbouring countries – such as Finland, Denmark and Norway – all of which have imposed lockdowns, are faring far better in their management of coronavirus.

While Sweden has logged over 1,500 coronavirus deaths, these countries have seen fewer than 500 apiece.

The architect of Sweden’s policy, Dr Anders Tegnell, has claimed that some parts of the country could reach “herd immunity” by next month.

However, the dissenting scientists dispute this assertion, saying the agency has claimed on four different occasions that the spread of infection has levelled out, despite evidence to the contrary.

The Agency counter-claims that these scientists have misunderstood the figures.

The scientists are calling on the Swedish government to close restaurants, bars, schools and other public spaces.

This whole debate is particularly worrying, given that some within the UK government seem to think we should be following Sweden’s current example.

Alex Wickham, BuzzFeed UK’s political editor, yesterday reported that, “Some senior figures in No10 are increasingly looking at Sweden as an argument that ongoing lockdown is not the answer.”

We need to fight this idea, hard.

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