The scientist leading Sweden’s coronavirus battle believes Britain’s lockdown has gone too far and says the UK Government should have stuck to its original strategy.

Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, 63, fronts daily press conferences in Stockholm, leaving politicians to take a back seat.

On his advice, Sweden has allowed bars, restaurants, schools, businesses and sports venues to remain open while relying on its citizens to control the virus through social distancing and good hygiene.

Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, 63, fronts daily press conferences in Stockholm, leaving politicians to take a back seat

Ironically, Dr Tegnell’s expertise comes from Britain – he has a masters degree in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, he revealed that Sweden was ‘following’ the UK’s original approach of resisting full lockdown and said he was ‘disappointed’ when we abruptly altered our strategy.

‘I am very sceptical of lockdowns altogether but if you ever do them, you should do them at an early stage,’ he added, referring to Britain’s delay in acting.

On his advice, Sweden has allowed bars, restaurants, schools, businesses and sports venues to remain open while relying on its citizens to control the virus through social distancing and good hygiene. Stockholm is pictured above on Saturday

‘At certain times I suppose they can be useful, if you are unprepared and need more intensive care facilities, for example, but you are really just pushing the problem ahead of you.’

Dr Tegnell, whose measures are supported by the majority of Swedes, said: ‘So far, what we are doing is working. In a sense we are beating it, and I am confident we are doing the best we can in the circumstances.’

He has received flowers and thousands of emails expressing gratitude. ‘Even my wife got sent flowers to thank her for lending me to the nation,’ he said.

‘People wave and cheer when I cycle to work. Never has an epidemiologist been this famous.’

A temporary intensive care ward opened yesterday in a Stockholm suburb but is not yet needed. ‘We have more intensive care beds than ever,’ said Dr Tegnell.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, he revealed that Sweden was ‘following’ the UK’s original approach of resisting full lockdown and said he was ‘disappointed’ when we abruptly altered our strategy

Sweden has recorded about 6,000 cases and 333 deaths – ten times fewer than the UK, although the country is believed to be a couple of weeks behind on the virus curve.

‘We put in a lot of effort trying to stop the disease from entering Sweden,’ said Dr Tegnell. ‘We also did a lot of testing and contact tracing. This bought us time for the health service to prepare.’

Britain’s strategy changed when Imperial College London published a study suggesting avoiding lockdown could mean 250,000 deaths. Dr Tegnell, who sees the virus as a manageable risk, disagrees.

‘I still go to restaurants,’ he said. ‘We can’t kill all our services. And unemployed people are a great threat to public health. It’s a factor you need to think about.’