Sweden and Corona
I was curious and asked one of my friends in Sweden a few questions about what it feels like to live in Sweden during the Corona crisis. Obviously this is a single opinion, from a friend whom I appreciate, not a politician, journalist or virologist… 😉
Here are my questions:
How pleased are the Swedes with their government’s Corona strategy?
- Personally I am very pleased. Most of the people that I talk to have the same opinion.
- The strategy is to give every person lots of responsibility. Most restrictions are recommendations and not laws. I only read about people that are unhappy with the strategy in media and social media. I have not talked to one person that think the government do this wrong.
- People are a bit unhappy about the fact that Covid managed to get into the retirement homes. That is the main reason why many people have died.
What restrictions are you currently facing that make life different from before Corona?
- The biggest difference I see is that bars and restaurants have to stop selling alcohol at 8 in the night. But I haven’t heard any complaints about that decision.
- They recommend people to use a facemask when they travel by public bus and train during the most busy hours in the morning and in the afternoon.
- They recommend people to not travel unless they really need to.
- They recommend people to stay home from work if they have any symptoms until they have a negative covid test. Takes about 2 days to get your results.
- If you get sick the government pays the first day of sickness, normally the first day of sickness is without getting paid.
- If somebody at work get sick they need to follow up here they got sick from and try to stop that chain of infection.
- Shops need to post a sign and limit the number of customers. How many customers they can have depends on the size of the store. They calculate that every person needs 10 square meters. So if a store has 100 square meters they are allowed to have 10 people at once.
- Stores divide the store so that you enter in one place and exit in another place. The purpose is to not bump into each other.
- All stores offer hand-sanitiser for the customers to use.
- Stores ask people to just enter one from each house when they shop for food. Its just a sign outside the store and most people shop alone.
Are masks mandatory in public and how is this enforced?
- Masks are not mandatory.
- Every person chooses for themselves. I estimate that about 50% of the people in big grocery stores wear masks. I use a mask when I go to buy food in the big stores. Maybe it protects me a little bit but mainly it protect others if I would have Covid.
- Our government says that its critical to use the mask right, otherwise it can do more harm then good. If you use the mask right then they believe its good.
- I use a blue mask that might give me some protection, this is a cheaper model and I have a 100-pack in my car. When I choose to I put one on. My mom is in the “risk group”, she uses different masks that protect her from others. Its more expensive.
Are there any travel restrictions?
- To enter Sweden you need a negative Covid test that is no older then 48 hours.
- Personally I choose to stay home most of the time. I have taken 3-4 weekends in hotels in Sweden just to get good food and see something else. The hotels are very good at making a setup where all the guests can keep distance. In this way the hotels can survive the Covid without loosing all their business.
How motivated is the general public for vaccinations and what is the policy for selecting which product to use?
- I believe most people is motivated. The elderly are almost fighting over the vaccination and want it as soon as possible.
- I am motivated and want to get the vaccine, but Im very ok that I have to wait… I rather take it later then sooner so that they have found and weird stuff that happens when you take the vaccine.
Which are the most used products?
- I don’t know witch one is used more but they use Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
How big is the “fear factor” for people being afraid to suffer or die from Corona?
- Older people are afraid. Some older people are hiding in their houses and meet nobody at all. Food are being delivered to their door.
- I have great respect for Covid and am very happy if I can go through this without getting covid. But I don’t think that most people are afraid, but they have respect.
In countries like Germany the society is split in half, some are Pro and others are against all government measures and would prefer that the public health system deals with the situation. Is there a society split happening in Sweden ?
- I don’t really see any split.
- Some idiots made a demonstration a few weeks ago, saying that Covid does not exist. But it was a small and confused group and they didn’t get any support.
Is the “third wave” a topic?
– Yes. We get updated all the time trough media. They tell us where its a lot of Covid and often we can read ”more Covid then ever” bla bla,,. But people test a lot so I don’t know if its really that bad. Maybe it just means that they see more Covid because they do more tests.
Further information:
In case you are wondering “what price Sweden’s population is paying for this…”:
The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Corona – Kaum einer redet noch über Schweden. Warum eigentlich?
Gunnar Kaiser 
