Sweden's Model for COVID-19

The "new normal" is said to practice standard hygiene procedures, wear a face mask, distance ourselves 6 feet from one another in crowded areas, and wear gloves on the job. The daily attention the media has devoted to SARS-CoV-2 is second to none with case and death counts presented to its audience hourly. While much of the world closed shop at the demands of government only to enrich big business, few countries refused to lockdown and resumed business as usual integrating an escalation of health practices with those commonplace. Sweden is one of them.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sweden chose a route many might consider to be that of "herd immunity," a practice publicly condoned by Dr. Knut Wittowski, Ph.D., Sc.D., formerly of the prestigious Rockefeller University in New York. Rockefeller University released a statement on April 13, 2020, disclaiming a current relationship and distancing the institution from holding similar views as Dr. Wittkowski. YouTube censored an interview of the research scientist on May 16, 2020.

Sweden's controversial response to the virus is led by State Epidemiologist, Dr. Anders Tegnell, M.D., M.Sc. His position has been to treat the virus much like the seasonal flu and allow society to remain both responsible and vigilant during it's daily activities. While the numbers of casualties increased during the month of June 2020, these numbers decreased dramatically in the month of July 2020, as neighboring Scandinavian countries suffered from a significant increase in COVID-19 casualty rates.

The United States, taking a more extreme response in imposing restrictions than Sweden, at one time led the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Today, it continues to lead the world in the highest case rates of any country under the direction of Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, M.D., of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with in excess of 150,000 recorded COVID-19 deaths to date, placing the country in the top 10 in the world in deaths. Dr. Fauci conceded to members of Congress last week that protests since May 2020 may have facilitated the continued spread of the virus.

Ultimately, this pandemic is by no means over. Nevertheless, the difference in statistical data between Sweden and the United States tell their own unique stories as to what practices appear to be working 5 months along and what does not navigating forward.