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Is softly, softly Sweden heading for catastrophe? Alone in Europe, its schools, bars and restaurants are open as usual. But now deaths are set to soar - and ministers are facing fury
People sit in close proximity at an outdoor restaurant in central Stockholm last Thursday, well after most of Sweden's neighbours had imposed drastic lockdowns
PAUL CONNOLLY: Swedes really don't like to stand out. They much prefer to blend in. They even have their own word for it: 'Jantelagen', the Scandinavian answer to Australia and New Zealand's 'tall poppy syndrome'. It roughly translates as: 'Don't think you're better than anyone else.' And so it's quite understandable that its government's maverick response to the coronavirus crisis is making many in the country feel uneasy.
After all, Sweden is the last major European country to have most of its schools, bars and restaurants still open. Yes, the government has asked people to work from home if possible, and those over 70 have been instructed to stay indoors, while visits to elderly care homes have been banned. But there have been no official lockdown directives - even though there have been more than 4,000 cases of infection and 180 deaths.
Sweden's current rate of infection is already relatively high. If you look at the number of reported cases per 100,000 of the Swedish population (39.6), it's greater than the UK's (33.8). And so the Swedish government's strategy doesn't sit well with many citizens.
Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/a...tastrophe.html
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