So Much for Sweden's Approach to COVID-19

“ ... quite obviously a potential for improvement in what we have done” is bureaucratese for "We screwed up.".

Very sad indeed for Sweden.
Florida has been spiking for a while. I am surprised that Georgia has not seen similar spikes
New York, (as well as the rest of our country) i pray that we dont get the spike from the protests but don't see how its avoidable. If we dont though, it will show that the virus is way less contagious OUTDOORS, than we have been giving it credit for. We shall see.

there will absolutely be more exposure to the virus because of the protests. i'm interested to see how it plays out. Sweden made a choice. I wonder how many people did practice social distancing there regardless.

So on May 21 Florida registered 1,198 new cases and with the exception of May 30 with 2,140 new cases and they have stayed flat or declined to June 3 with 605 new cases.

In my state of Georgia on May 21 we had 771 new cases and have been flat or decline to June 3 with 261 new cases.

I guess I don’t understand what the meaning of “spike” is.

Funny, in an article today it doesn't read that way at all.

https:// https://news.yahoo.com/sweden-dr-no-lockdown-denies-192515569.html

However, at his daily press briefing in Stockholm, Tegnell pushed back against the idea that he was changing tack and reiterated his view that Sweden’s overall strategy had been correct.

“We continue to believe the strategy is good but then there are always improvements we can make,” he told reporters.

and then there is this

”The number of deaths per million in Sweden, at 450, is below the worst-hit countries in Europe, including the U.K. and Spain...”

Stephen S said...
and then there is this

”The number of deaths per million in Sweden, at 450, is below the worst-hit countries in Europe, including the U.K. and Spain...”

Haha.. I'm no longer a particularly competitive person, but I've never celebrated not being last.

Keep it simple. Take the time to compare Sweden and it's Nordic neighbors. Similar cultures, similar populations and population density, similar initial exposures. Three countries "locked down", one did not.
Sweden's death toll and death rate is up to ten times that of its neighbors. The economic impact and outlook for Sweden is expected to be very similar to its neighbors.

Stephen S said...

F8 said...
CDC now predicting 127k deaths in the U.S. by June 27th. maybe you'd care to explain that away?

What does that have to do with Sweden? I was getting my daily dose of Covid related news, I saw the article about Sweden. I then came here looking for PCa kinds of things, and saw this thread which was just about 180 degrees different than what I had just read 15 seconds earlier. So I posted.

*******************

you've been minimizing this disease since day one. that's why.

JNF said...
So on May 21 Florida registered 1,198 new cases and with the exception of May 30 with 2,140 new cases and they have stayed flat or declined to June 3 with 605 new cases. I guess I don’t understand what the meaning of “spike” is.

There has been increased testing, hence more reported "cases". The important stats are the numbers of hospitalizations and the number of deaths. Also, Florida recently fired the woman who had the job of compiling COVID statistics. AFAIK no specific reason was given, but I'm sure there must have been one.

One thing I always keep in mind is that - regardless of news source, the focus will always be on sensationalism rather than comprehensive investigation. So we need to be rather skeptical of everything we see or hear.

Stephen S said...

F8 said...
you've been minimizing this disease since day one. that's why.

Sorry I popped your bubble F8.

The original article, like so much that passes for “news” these days, took a quote obviously way out of context. The scientist clearly had more to say the next day when he saw how his words were surrounded with “analysis”. Thats what the second article I found was about.

As for the CDC number....is that the CDC that predicted 250k deaths back in March? Or that the daily death rate would increase to 3000 deaths per day by the end of May (we are less than 1000, and the prediction was made just a few weeks ago), or the same CDC that then said 60k, then 80k? The same cdc that screwed up the initial testing kits? Given their history and track record I have little hope they could accurately forecast yesterdays weather. We may well hit their latest and greatest prediction but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

One thing I do know for certain, ~40 MILLION of our fellow citizens are unemployed. If you think that the riots were bad in the last week, wait until the helicopter money dries up.

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Belgium is very close to Sweden geographically, and has twice the death rate. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Sweden is close to the top with 455/million ( in 5th place for over all death rate at the moment, barely above France who is in 6th place, and well behind Belgium, UK, Spain and Italy ).

But, like our few states which have not done much(and last time I checked have done amazingly well), Sweden probably is not as worried as we (and most of the world) are about a certain problem: what happens when we come out of hiding. I'm guessing they won't be coming out of hiding, since they never were much in hiding? https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/

Deaths per day for Sweden peaked Apr 21 at 101 per day. Down to 57 on May 29, and June 5th 43(38 for 6/6, but do they have all the figures yet?) It appears their deaths per day are on a steady down trend, about as much as anyone else, and I don't suppose they are concerned about any spike once they come out of any degree of lock down. https://www.covid19insweden.com/en/

New York, with a population roughly twice that of Sweden with their 4000+ deaths, has had 30,000+( 1550 per million, staggering!). And next door NJ has another 12,000 dead, plus many of the NE states have a very high death rate. UT, with there small 3.2 million population but apparently no shut down to speak of, has 117 deaths(so about 30 per million). Lots of food for thought there. (and, in case you are thinking of UT as a rural state with very low population density, the VAST majority, or 2.6 million, live in one continuous metro area of Provo, SLC, Ogden and the many little suburbs that connect them.AKA "Wasatch Front"). I am astounded that they have escaped with only 117 deaths, with or without a shutdown. There probably are a lot of factors that contribute to these widely varying death rates, and I don't really know what they all are.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1103688/coronavirus-covid19-deaths-us-by-state/

Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 6/6/2020 3:34:54 PM (GMT-6)

Buddy Blank said...
BB I'm curious why you constantly refer to standard public health measures (social distancing etc.) for dealing with a very contagious, often lethal, virus as "coming out of hiding"? I've seen it more than a few times. I recall one time where you said we needed to come out of hiding and "face" the virus. What does that mean? It comes off as you denigrating the advice of the experts, and those who follow their advice. Can you clear me up? Thx.

Hey Buddy, yes, you are right. I have said that a few times. Is it offensive? It is certainly not meant to be. It s a simple statement of fact. This is what we have been doing. I have not said that we should not have done it, I have just said that I ( and many others) have been hiding from the virus. But, the virus has not gone anywhere that I know of. ( unless it has died off? That would be nice) So, if the virus is still out there, sooner or later I am going to have to come out of hiding and face it. There is no offense nor denigration within that statement, it is simple logic and fact. We have been hiding from the virus haven't we, doing everything we can to avoid contact with it?

Now, in my case, I have not been doing a very good job of hiding for at least a week or two now. Though I do try and remember to wear a mask for other folks peace of mind when I am out. But- just like with the flu with or without a flu shot, I don't really think I am going to get it, or at least not a bad case of it. ( Boy, I'm really asking for it, I know, and the superstitious part of me is starting to panic since I said that) But with what I have said previously about betting money on low vitamin D and C levels in almost every one in the hospital with CV-19, well I KNOW I am not going to be in that group. ( i.e. the group i the hospital with CV-19 who is low on D and C) That ain't happening. So the numbers say, vaccine or no vaccine, I am not going to be in that group. Sadly, the whole nation could be making the same claim, but no one has told them about these things. ( except I almost fell out of my chair last night, there was a woman on a TV news show talking about that very exact subject. She is the first one I have EVER heard mention it on TV or normal news outlets)

Well, Buddy, it might not make sense, but it is what we and the entire world are in the process doing. The virus is out there waiting for us, and we are coming out. And if we don’t come out now, we are coming out sooner or later. Vaccine or no vaccine, at some point, everyone is coming out. We can keep our social distancing, and wearing mask and washing our hands, but people appear to be about ready to otherwise get back to normal. And my point about all that was: this won’t make any difference to Sweden as far as I can tell, it won’t change much. I’m not so sure about if it might change things for us. So when we’re looking at these numbers about Sweden, we really need to wait until all the numbers are in say six months to a year from now.

F8 said...
there will absolutely be more exposure to the virus because of the protests. i'm interested to see how it plays out. Sweden made a choice. I wonder how many people did practice social distancing there regardless.

I’m sure some did, maybe most. But I think it was done more by a matter of choice rather than government mandate. Particularly when it came to closing businesses. Or at least some businesses. Most of the big mega businesses have barely been hurt by this, at least not the big box stores and Walmart And Amazon etc. the little man, small businesses, on the other hand, has taken a butt whipping. I know a few. I don’t get Sweden has been through too much hardship regarding this. Oh well, I don’t know which is wrong or which is right. I guess will know after a few more months.