COVID paranoia

[Excursion UK]

The UK implemented a lockdown late and failed to implement contact tracing until far too late.

Why are you so unwilling to compare Sweden with Norway, Denmark or Finland? They are much more comparable countries.

Why are they much more comparable? What are you claiming is so different about the way Scandinavians live that has direct relevance to the rate of CV 19 deaths given that we've already established that most people (in Sweden, at least) live in Urban areas? And you haven't acknowledged my earlier post pointing out that the Swedish policy on care homes was disastrous & that must have had some bearing on their poor figures.

So in my view, the efficacy of the lockdown strategy is still questionable and doesn't justify wrecking otherwise healthy people's lives and crashing the economy off a cliff when vulnerable people could have been supported to isolate at home while the rest of the country got on with its business.

[WTFH]

The UK implemented a lockdown late and failed to implement contact tracing until far too late.

Why are you so unwilling to compare Sweden with Norway, Denmark or Finland? They are much more comparable countries.

The UK government refused to put any restrictions/quarantine on arrivals to the UK, dropped the idea of contact tracing and hindered the supply of PPE.
Most of the UK is an island. It should have been a walk in the park to secure our country, take control of our borders and ensure the health of the nation.

Let's compare the UK to another island(s) nation: New Zealand.
New Zealand implemented partial arrival quarantine 3 weeks BEFORE it even had a case.
Two weeks after its first case, NZ started to ban large gatherings, and ALL arrivals from outside NZ had to quarantine for 14 days - they had 8 cases at this stage.
One week later (still no deaths), they had closed the schools and had formed a cross-party group to work on the response.

How many weeks after the UK's first case did the schools close?
How many weeks after the UK's first case were all arrivals told to quarantine?

[WTFH]

Contact Tracing to Tackle Coronavirus in England Off to a Slow Start - The New York Times

[Old Greg]

Why are they much more comparable? What are you claiming is so different about the way Scandinavians live that has direct relevance to the rate of CV 19 deaths given that we've already established that most people (in Sweden, at least) live in Urban areas? And you haven't acknowledged my earlier post pointing out that the Swedish policy on care homes was disastrous & that must have had some bearing on their poor figures.

So in my view, the efficacy of the lockdown strategy is still questionable and doesn't justify wrecking otherwise healthy people's lives and crashing the economy off a cliff when vulnerable people could have been supported to isolate at home while the rest of the country got on with its business.

Reasons why Sweden is comparable to other Nordics (except Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands):

1. Geogoraphy (work it out yourself)
2. Culture (work it out yourself)
3. Population size (10.1 million in Sweden, 5.8 million in Denmark, 5.6 million in Finland, 5.5 million in Norway, vs 66.8 million in UK)
4. Population density per square km (133.9 in Denmark, 22.5 in Sweden, 17.0 in Norway, 16.6 in Finland, vs 274 in UK)
5. Urbanisation levels (88% in Denmark, 87% in Sweden, 85% in Finland, 82% in Norway, vs 83% in UK)

Look at those together as a whole - is Sweden more like the UK or other Nordic countries? The only reason why I can see that you would choose to compare with the UK rather than the Nordics is that you want to compare with a badly performing country.

In terms of nursing homes, lots of countries have done a bad job with nursing homes. What we can really say is that in its policy response as a whole Sweden has performed badly compared to the nearest comparator countries.

Whether you think lockdown is worth it is a value judgment, but the stats show that countries that locked down and locked down early fared better in terms of deaths. Whether the Swedish economy fares better than other Nordics remains to be seen.

[Old Greg]

The UK government refused to put any restrictions/quarantine on arrivals to the UK, dropped the idea of contact tracing and hindered the supply of PPE.
Most of the UK is an island. It should have been a walk in the park to secure our country, take control of our borders and ensure the health of the nation.

Let's compare the UK to another island(s) nation: New Zealand.
New Zealand implemented partial arrival quarantine 3 weeks BEFORE it even had a case.
Two weeks after its first case, NZ started to ban large gatherings, and ALL arrivals from outside NZ had to quarantine for 14 days - they had 8 cases at this stage.
One week later (still no deaths), they had closed the schools and had formed a cross-party group to work on the response.

How many weeks after the UK's first case did the schools close?
How many weeks after the UK's first case were all arrivals told to quarantine?

UK vs NZ is something of an Excursion UK - style comparison, you bad man.

[WTFH]

UK vs NZ is something of an Excursion UK - style comparison, you bad man.

Oh dear. Sorry, I will stop comparing a country that has successfully handled the pandemic so far, with the UK.

[Excursion UK]

Reasons why Sweden is comparable to other Nordics (except Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands):

1. Geogoraphy (work it out yourself)
2. Culture (work it out yourself)
3. Population size (10.1 million in Sweden, 5.8 million in Denmark, 5.6 million in Finland, 5.5 million in Norway, vs 66.8 million in UK)
4. Population density per square km (133.9 in Denmark, 22.5 in Sweden, 17.0 in Norway, 16.6 in Finland, vs 274 in UK)
5. Urbanisation levels (88% in Denmark, 87% in Sweden, 85% in Finland, 82% in Norway, vs 83% in UK)

Look at those together as a whole - is Sweden more like the UK or other Nordic countries? The only reason why I can see that you would choose to compare with the UK rather than the Nordics is that you want to compare with a badly performing country.

In terms of nursing homes, lots of countries have done a bad job with nursing homes. What we can really say is that in its policy response as a whole Sweden has performed badly compared to the nearest comparator countries.

Whether you think lockdown is worth it is a value judgment, but the stats show that countries that locked down and locked down early fared better in terms of deaths. Whether the Swedish economy fares better than other Nordics remains to be seen.

Regarding your 1st 2 points I'm not going to "work it out for myself" as you arrogantly suggest - give me some facts as I have done to back up my arguments.

As for population - surely it's the population density in the areas where everyone lives that is crucial & this is totally comparable with the uk.

[WTFH]

As for population - surely it's the population density in the areas where everyone lives that is crucial & this is totally comparable with the uk.

You arrogantly use the word "everyone". Does that mean no one in Sweden lives outside Stockholm, and no one in the UK lives outside London, that no one travels around or through the country and that no one outside those two cities has been infected, has passed on the infection, or has died?

[Excursion UK]

You arrogantly use the word "everyone". Does that mean no one in Sweden lives outside Stockholm, and no one in the UK lives outside London, that no one travels around or through the country and that no one outside those two cities has been infected, has passed on the infection, or has died?

No but most people (87.9%) do live in urbanised areas.

[Old Greg]

Regarding your 1st 2 points I'm not going to "work it out for myself" as you arrogantly suggest - give me some facts as I have done to back up my arguments.

As for population - surely it's the population density in the areas where everyone lives that is crucial & this is totally comparable with the uk.

I didn't think it was arrogant. I thought it was obvious. Do you really need to be told why Sweden is more comparable from cultural and geographic perspectives to other Nordics as opposed to the UK? Surely you know that!

To compare, look at all factors. Add more factors if you like. And then say why you think the UK is a better comparator than other Nordics. And be honest with yourself. You just want to pick a poor performer.