Sweden

Views diverge on Sweden's unique strategy of not closing borders and shutting down schools, workplaces, restaurants, libraries, gyms and shopping centers. The Swedish government has declared no state of emergency and no orders to shelter in place. Young Swedes are even encouraged to continue with their sports training and events.

Some Brits think that we Swedes are crazy, The Spectator's Fraser Nelson told Swedish radio last week, but added that other Brits admire how the Swedish people have largely followed scientific advice—no mandatory lockdown needed.

One reason why some believe Sweden is a disaster zone while others see it as a role model is that currently available data can be interpreted many different ways.

Those who want to show how great Sweden is doing have produced charts comparing us to countries like Britain, Belgium, France, Spain, and Italy. Those who want to prove the opposite replace those countries with Norway, Denmark, and Finland, all of which have fewer deaths.

If you want Sweden to look bad, compare it to the U.S. as a whole—120 deaths per million in Sweden vs. 94 in the U.S. according to Our World in Data's April 16 numbers. If you want Sweden to look good, compare it to New York state, which is at a more similar stage to us in the virus's spread—120 vs. 580.

The truth is that Sweden is somewhere in the European middle when it comes to deaths per capita, which in itself is interesting. We are outliers in terms of policy, but not in terms of outcomes.

There are also reasons to think that Sweden is doing better than these comparisons suggest. Many countries don't count COVID-19 deaths outside of hospitals. When people die at home, in nursing homes, or in prisons, they don't show up in the coronavirus death count.

In the Stockholm region of Sweden, 42 percent of deaths took place in nursing homes for the elderly.

https://reason.com/2020/04/17/in-sweden-will-voluntary-self-isolation-work-better-than-state-enforced-lockdowns-in-the-long-run/?fbclid=IwAR2VQqyQcFTlwqk4eYMKTNUKQt1OezMy7WKpSzC-EY0yp_voRJKaD4W5h6Q

"Some Brits think that we Swedes are crazy"

They don't limit it to just the Swedes.