Learn from Sweden!

I believe we should be putting our efforts towards protecting those in vulnerable groups. And, like Sweden, the remainder of the population should be carrying on with life as normal, with common sense measures in place for indoors, poorly ventilated areas. I also believe individuals should have the right to choose- so the elderly & other vulnerable groups may choose to enjoy time with family & friends, doing things they enjoy, rather than extending their existence in isolation & feeling miserable. When did we become so risk averse? When did we, as adults, lose the right to decide for ourselves whether we want to risk catching a virus that has a 99.96% survival rate? If everyone is treated respectfully & asked to behave in a mindful way, so as not to put vulnerable people at risk, I believe that would be far more effective- the previous lockdowns & enforcing laws which have been rushed through comes at too high a cost- suicide & mental ill health has rocketed, along with deaths from missed cancer treatments & heart attacks, not to mention addiction issues. The loss of basic human rights & freedom of choice is not justified here. In summary, my view is that schools must remain open if we want our future generations to have any chance- what about the importance of social interactions alongside their learning- it can’t be understated here. Keep businesses open & let people choose whether they want to visit family & friends- being mindful to wash hands, wear a mask etc if someone wishes them to do so, keeping distant if necessary. We need to remember the importance of face to face human interactions- cuddling our loved ones, showing affection through touch. Phones & tablets have already stripped this generation of much in the way of human interaction, further lockdowns, restrictions & distancing will be the final nail in the coffin of humanity. Let’s put our efforts into supporting/protecting those who want it, let everyone else get on with life in joy- if we all go through life terrified of dying, we’re already dead!

Why the contribution is important

Because of the damage a further lockdown will cause- more suicides, more mental health problems, more untreated cancer & other illnesses. Children being abused & neglected behind closed doors, or becoming depressed through isolation. Our wonderful older generation withering away with nobody round about them. People will lose the will to live, we’ve lost too much already

by DebsS on October 06, 2020 at 10:22AM

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Average rating: 4.1
Based on: 26 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Thalie October 06, 2020 at 13:26

    This. While we won't know who has the best solution until this whole thing is over, it seems like Sweeden is balancing the need to be HUMAN with controlling a virus. The side-effects and death risks of the novel coronavirus are definitely significant and important, but at the same time, the initial lockdown was meant to BUY US TIME to learn how to live with the virus. Regressing into it just shows that we have, maybe, not found the best way to do so is. Severe restrictions have the potential to do more harm than good to both businesses and people. A mental health crisis and an economical one are now even closer than 'just around the corner'. Encouraging restrictions even more risks raising these even more, and for what?
    It might seem insensitive, but if people don't want to take care of themselves and protect themselves from this virus, why are we trying so hard to make them?
    Enforce by law masks and distancing from *strangers*, limit numbers indoors and find ways to let people live somewhat of a normal life. Make sure the test and protect systems are working to full capacity!
    I am a 28 yo who is suffering deeply from lack of contact with loved ones, and literally, every single person around me is feeling the same. What are we teaching our kids, when they are already at risk from social media and too much device usage? I have supported lockdown and restrictions all the way until now, because I understood they are needed to put systems into place that would help us live with this virus until some major shift happens. However, maybe the problem is with the systems not working, and therefore, a rethink of efficacy is needed. However, going back to lockdown might have to mean we have nothing to come back to once this is all over.

  • Posted by AuroraB October 06, 2020 at 18:41

    The issue with this is that Sweden is quite different from the UK in a number of ways (for instance, much lower population density, high compliance with voluntary restrictions and large proportion of people who live alone) so you can't assume the results would be the same here. If you compare Sweden to countries that are actually comparable, such as Norway and Finland, the Swedish results are far worse - about 10x more infections and excess deaths. And it's not that people in those countries have some sort of miserable locked-down existence either. They just took the situation seriously early on, implemented proper restrictions and closed their borders. As a result, they were able to reopen much earlier than the UK, enjoyed a pretty much normal life over the summer and still have low levels of cases. Their economies aren't doing any worse than Sweden either. If anything, not having people decide they have to hide away from society due to ongoing high levels of covid has helped with that. Talk to anyone from there and they'll tell you they can't understand why Sweden decided to do this to itself when there was another way.

  • Posted by zuzan October 06, 2020 at 20:38

    Oh like the Sweden that has just done a U turn on their herd immunity strategy as too many people died.

  • Posted by Pipkins October 10, 2020 at 14:40

    There are two main problems with the information above :

    Firstly comparing Sweden with the UK is very unhelpful and much better to compare it's response with other Nordic countries who are similar in their standard of living, education, job market and attitudes towards their governments. And if we compare with other Nordic countries, Sweden appears to have done very badly. According to Gabriel Scally from the University of Bristol and a member of Independent SAGE:

    " Sweden has had an enormous amount of deaths per head of population, 5880 deaths representing 581 deaths per million population. Compared with its neighbours it has been unsuccessful in preventing deaths—Finland, for example, has had 343 deaths, which equals 62 deaths per million population.”

    So if the aim is to increase the death toll in the UK even higher, the Swedish model seems a good one.

    The second problem is that the Swedish approach is not a free for all. In Sweden they initally used online learning in schools and when returning to schools had small class sizes and social distancing measures. They have also been banning travel from outside the EU and banned visits to care homes amongst other things.

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