Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

In a vacuum, one statistic doesn't tell an entire story. Sweden is the single occupancy capitol of the world, with 47% of all Swedish households being just one adult, no kids. Other Nordic countries are similar, but not quite as high. Not surprisingly, the Nordic countries are near the bottom of the chart. While COVID spreading to others within a household isn't guaranteed, there is zero risk of anyone else in the household getting COVID when there isn't anyone else in the household.

Sweden also did take measures to reduce the spread of COVID. While they didn't close their elementary schools, they did close high schools and universities. The Swedish Government also instituted Work From Home policies and the Swedish Health Dept gave recommendations for all businesses to follow. As a result, 48% of Swedes were WFH by then end of the pandemic, and only 2% of businesses who had the ability to have people WFH didn't allow it. These public health recommendations were the result of early COVID returns, which saw Sweden doing very poorly as compared to its Nordic neighbors. And unlike here in the States, the Swedes trust their government, and when the government recommends a policy, it's often followed without much question.

Last, but not least, Sweden has the 5th highest vaccination rate in all of Europe, recommending jabs for everyone 12 and older. Combine a high vaccination rate, a high WFH rate, and the highest single person household rate in the world, it's not a surprise that Sweden did well. Even after the extremely poor start.

 

2020: “Sweden undertaking a vast, uncontrolled experiment!”

2023: *furiously scrambling to prop up lockdown narrative*

 

LOL. Now people defending Sweden like they took all these measures to stop Covid LOL. Holy crap this is too funny.

 

you should move to Sweden. The one country on earth that did it right. Maybe you’d be happy there.

 

Every time tax season rolls around I think Sweden might be the best country on earth. But my wife hates the cold.

 

I'm happy here in FL. Some things I don't agree with but pretty happy here. IF I lived in CA or NY I for sure would've moved like hundreds of thousands did during the pandemic.

 

You don’t seem very happy.

 

I’m not happy about crimes against humanity.

 

You are wrong.

 

Disagree. You come off as quite ornery.

 

I’m ornery about false beliefs fostering mass-psychosis.

 

Always happy. Would be happier if the Gators didn't suck at Football/basketball the last few years though.

 

I think we can all agree there.

 

Those with simple minds find simple things funny. I took you beyond the simple excess mortality numbers with explanations, and you find those funny? Those with intellectual minds would probably find them interesting. And yes, Sweden didn't remain completely open. In addition to shutting down high schools and colleges, Sweden also banned all get-togethers of 50 or more people, as well as ended visitation to nursing homes. Again, this was in response to having early COVID mortality numbers that looked awful as compared to their Nordic neighbors.

But that's not the only reason why Sweden ultimately faired better. You also must consider the 47% of Swedish households being a household of 1, and the 48% of Swedes working from home. In comparison, 29% of US households have one person, and only 26% of Americans worked from home at the height of the pandemic. If you think having less people per home, and more people staying home a majority of the time wouldn't slow an airborne virus, then please, laugh away.

 

“airborne virus”

I’m laughing away.

 

See how quickly everyone went from Sweden was the poster child for NOT what to do to now saying they did tons of covid measures. Can't make this crap up. Too funny. The grifters won't let it go and admit they were wrong. It's ok. More of a running joke now.

 

Reminds me of people who moved the goalposts from “Wait, Sweden had less mortality than countries that lockdown harder ?” to “Yeah, but Sweden’s neighbors had less mortality.”

 

No joke. Just following the data. Sweden announced it's 50 person max policy and closing secondary/post secondary schools mid-March. Look at the chart. Wonder why they did that? Because, as compared to their Nordic neighbors, they were doing awful when it came to COVID deaths.



Again, when you institute COVID measures in a country where nearly half of the population lives alone, and nearly half the population works from home, you are going to have better COVID numbers. But the chart above clearly shows what happens when you don't institute any COVID measures. Then, as the calendar turned 2021, and the vaccine became available, again, Sweden has the 5th highest vaccination rate in all of Europe.

Laugh away. In April through July, 2020, it was clear that the early Swedish model was not the one to follow. They knew it too, which is why they started to institute measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. And not surprising they ultimately did well considering other factors that exist in Sweden that don't exist elsewhere.

 

Lest I be misunderstood, I’m laughing at the notion of a virus that necessitated any sort of an intervention.

In the absence of a virus, deaths are deaths. And a correlation between lockdowns (chiefly from the effects of panic and despair) and *excess deaths* should be considered.

There were excess deaths, in Sweden, early on. And this may be why ...

Sweden Did in Fact Lock Down When it Came to Care Homes – The Daily Sceptic

 

“We Have to Compare Sweden to Its Neighbours” Isn’t a Convincing Argument – The Daily Sceptic