While the death toll in Sweden rose last spring to one of the highest rates in the world, this once faceless scientist was accused of creating an “paria state. “
⚠️ Read our blog about coronavirus for the latest news and updates
However, when I met Tegnell, 64, in Stockholm, the capital, he praised as if he were Abba’s fifth member.
The T-shirts they proclaim, in the manner of Carlsberg’s ads, “Tegnell, the world’s most productive state epidemiologist” are the best-selling.
It turns out that your decision not to block could have been worth it.
On Tuesday, when Britain and other European countries saw an increase in cases, it announced that Sweden had the lowest number of new cases since March.
In April, Covid’s deaths on a single day peaked at 115; today, some days, that number is zero.
And while the UK economy fell by 20% in the first 3 months of closure, Sweden’s economy fell by nine.
Therefore, it is not unexpected that Tegnell is a hero to many in Sweden and to those around the world and that these draconian padlocks are self-destructive.
A Swedish rapper immortalized him in a song and the epidemiologist has a 33,000-member Facebook fan.
In March, when the first wave of coronavirus swept Europe, the outliers of Britain and Sweden ignored the clamor of closure.
Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London then published an explosive study that found that another 500,000 people can die of Covid in Britain without strict restrictions. In Sweden, this may have meant only 85,000 deaths (so far, fewer than 5,900 have died. ).
Panic in Britain has been locked up tightly. Tegnell kept Sweden open, relying heavily on the goodwill of the public than on strict new legislation to combat the virus.
A recent survey found that 8 out of ten Swedes say they have official guidelines.
Meetings of more than 50 people were banned, but Swedish schools for children under the age of 16, restaurants, bars, gymnasiums and hairdressers remained open. Tegnell said the closure of the border is “ridiculous” and that there is “very little evidence” that masks are effective. .
So what does life look like in Lockdown-Free Land?
On the airport shuttle, I’m looking for a mask, but the unmasked guard says I don’t want to bother. One vote found that only 6% of Swedes use them.
Then, at the top of the subway platform, all I see is a masked passenger.
Molly Robinson, 26, from Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorks, says, “Using one is your choice. “
Later, in a restaurant, an unmasked and stripped-down waitress takes me to a socially remote table. There’s no arrow, no disinfection station.
In pubs, joy of joy, one can at the bar and order a beer, as long as he stays socially est distanced.
David Manly, 38, director of the food place at Nya Car-negiebryggeriet’s pub, said: “We feel like we’re in a different world than other countries. We are incredibly grateful. “
In Headzone, 23-year-old hairdresser Fay Botsi says: “We don’t need to wear masks or visors. We keep the distance and use a disinfectant. “
Wearing one of Tegnell’s T-shirts, 26-year-old student Isabell Hukansson says, “I’m glad everything’s open and we’re locked up. “
Junior Sebastian Rushworth, 37, tells me he hasn’t noticed a Covid patient in his emergency branch for two months.
And the country is well prepared. At the beginning of the pandemic, I had 526 extensive care beds and within a few weeks that number had doubled.
Dr. Rushworth, who works in a suburb of the north of the capital, believes Sweden’s resistance is due to the strengthening of collective immunity.
“There’s no other moderate explanation,” he adds. The Swedish government has largely allowed the unelected bureaucrat Tegnell to lead his reaction to the pandemic.
But despite all the success, there have been concerns, adding up to his nursing home crisis.
Until mid-May, some of Sweden’s deaths occurred in nursing homes, a scenario that Tegnell said corrected.
Tegnell’s top vocal critics are the right-wing Swedish Democratic Party, which has called nursing home deaths a “massacre. “
Sweden has the fifth highest mortality rate per capita in Europe, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy.
Its mortality is higher than that of Denmark and about ten times that of Norway and Finland.
Critics say this alone is evidence that Sweden’s strategy is wrong.
Stockholm’s Swedish regional leader Gabriel Kroon, 23, says: “We’re closed. The disease has spread to nursing homes and we have had ten times as many deaths as Finland. I wouldn’t say it’s a success. “
Nicholas Aylott, professor of political science at the University of Sweden, believes that cultural norms may also have helped fight the virus.
The 50-year-old educator says: “Most Swedes don’t meet in giant groups, they don’t spend much on the church, many other people live alone or in small houses. “
Many Swedes have moved away from public transport and worked from home.
For many of his countrymen, Tegnell is a cult hero.
So how does it feel, I ask, to be as well known around the world as Abba?
“I try not to think about it too much,” he says modestly, “I know it’s going to happen too fast. “
The Swedish summer is over and the inhabitants of the city are returning from their holiday homes to paintings and schools.
There would probably be more spikes Covid. No waiting for a U-turn blocked by Tegnell Iceman.
DO YOU HAVE a story? RING The Sun on 0207782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun. co. uk
© News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 679215 Headquarters: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. “The Sun”, “Sun”, “Sun Online” are registered trademarks or industrial names of News Group Newspapers Limited. This service is provided under the popular terms and situations of News Group Newspapers ‘Limited, in accordance with our privacy and cookie policy. For information about a hardware replica license, visit our distribution site. Check out our online press kit. For any additional requests, please contact us. To view all the contents of The Sun, use the site map. Sun’s online page is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organization (IPSO)
Our hounds aspire to precision, but we make mistakes. To learn more about our claims policy and register a claim, click here.