Chinese Coronavirus: Europe Panics, Sweden Yawns

People eat in an outdoor restaurant in Sweden.

JESSICA GOW/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images
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Whether on trains or trams, in supermarkets or shopping malls — places where face masks are commonly worn in much of the world — Swedes go about their lives without them.

When most of Europe locked down their populations early in the pandemic by closing schools, restaurants, gyms and even borders, Swedes kept enjoying many freedoms. __ KTLA

Sweden made some early mistakes that led to unnecessary deaths in nursing homes. But avoiding the deadly and hysterical lockdowns that are tying up so many other countries of the world, was no mistake.

With much of Europe struggling to contain a second wave of coronavirus infections, a Danish professor has claimed that the pandemic “may be finished” in Sweden, thanks to herd immunity.

Sweden recorded 224 cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, a number roughly on par with daily new infections for the last two months. No patients died. However, the situation throughout much of Europe is different. 300,000 new cases were recorded across the continent last week, with the World Health Organization calling the spike in infections a “wake-up call.” Even Sweden’s neighbor, Denmark, saw an average of 61 cases per million people throughout the week, compared to Sweden’s relatively modest 23. __ Source

Daily New Deaths Sweden 20 Sept 2020
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/

Unlike most countries in Europe — and many states in the US — Sweden chose not to enforce a rigid Nazi-like lockdown on its people. Restaurants, bars, and schools stayed open. Most of Sweden’s people voluntarily followed a modest regimen of relaxed social distancing, but they avoided the economy-killing lockdowns that drive too many people to poverty and desperation.

Herd Immunity Eventually Works, Regardless of Vaccine Status

In the early days of the pandemic, Sweden’s socialized medicine system sent infected people into nursing homes, triggering a large die-off. That was a mistake resulting in many deaths. Another mistake was the rejection of hydroxychloroquine by Swedish socialized medicine — perhaps costing 80% more deaths than would have occurred otherwise.

But those mistakes aside, Sweden’s rejection of fascist lockdowns helped to save its economy and helped to hasten herd immunity.

Almost every other country in Europe panicked.

In March, when the first wave of coronavirus swept through Europe, outliers Britain and Sweden had ignored the clamour to lock down.

Then Professor Neil Ferguson, from London’s Imperial College, released a bombshell study that claimed 500,000 could perish from Covid in Britain without tough restrictions. In Sweden it could have meant 85,000 deaths (so far fewer than 5,900 have died).

Panicked Britain locked down hard. Tegnell kept Sweden open — relying largely on public goodwill rather than tough new laws to fight the virus.

One recent survey found eight in ten Swedes say they are following official guidelines. __ Source

Lockdowns are idiotic, and only die-hard ideologues continue to excuse their use and the massive damage they continue to do, and will do for years to come after the pandemic itself is history.

More states and countries are coming to the conclusion that COVID-19 lockdowns like those in China and New Zealand are overly restrictive and too costly and that people in democracies will simply not tolerate them.

__ DesMoines Register

Nothing in Life is Guaranteed

Too many snowflakes have been miseducated in universities over the past two or more decades. They want to have everything handed to them their way, on a platter — with full guarantees. But life doesn’t work that way. It never has, and it never will. We all pay a price when these whiners are given control over public policy.

The vast, vast majority of healthy people under the age of 55 who contract the virus still come out the other side alive and without any serious, permanent health issues. There are some who are hit very hard to be sure, but the same can be said for other diseases that we live with (or, in some cases, don’t) every year. We’ll have to wait until the second wave has finished washing over Europe to be sure, but it’s starting to look as if the Swedes were onto something all along. __ Source