Anna Mia Ekström's guest appearances

Anna Mia Ekström

Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Elon Musk

Kamala Harris

Donald Trump

Julie Smith

Greta Thunberg

John Townsend

Phil Jones

Chris Henry

James Logan

Bernie Sanders

Matt Bell

Sean Palmer

Brad Olsen

Jennifer Lopez

Jeff Bezos

OwlTail

It's the country that was heavily criticised for deciding to do things differently when it came to coronavirus – to ignore lockdown and keep bars and schools open.And it paid a price with at least 5700 deaths, putting it in the top 10 of nations in terms of coronavirus deaths per million.But, as time goes on, Sweden's controversial approach to tackling Covid-19 is winning over some sceptics.The Swedish economy has shrunk less than other nations and cases have fallen dramatically, deaths have essentially dried up and no significant second wave has occurred. In fact, right now, Sweden looks better than Australia.However, some virus watchers have warned that Sweden's success could be a mirage, that a Scandinavian trait could be behind the low current numbers and the real test could come in as little as one month's time.Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University, told news.com.au he doubts Sweden's approach – or that of New Zealand – is perfect. Rather, New South Wales could end up being the exemplar as to how to get a grip on the bucking bronco of Covid-19."In my view, neither the New Zealand nor the Swedish approach is the way to go," he said."The trouble with Sweden is it's had a lot of deaths; the trouble with New Zealand is elimination is difficult to achieve."What's happening in NSW with contact tracing and stopping the spread is more like what we will have to do for the next few years."What is the Swedish Approach?When the world was locking down, Sweden, conspicuously, did not.Sweden's chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell created and drove a unique national Covid-19 strategy.Pubs, most schools and other workplaces remained open. When people in Sydney were banned from supping a beer in a bar, residents of Stockholm were enjoying sundowners with their mates.That's not to say there were no restrictions on the nation's 10 million citizens. People were barred from going to aged-care homes, joining large gatherings and Swedes were encouraged to social distance – which it seems they did almost as much as everyone else."As a society, we are more into nudging: continuously reminding people to use measures, improving measures where we see day by day the that they need to be adjusted," Tegnell told the journal Nature in May.Swedish cases and deaths downInitially, the plan seemed to backfire. At one point Sweden had more deaths per population than any other country.So far, Sweden has suffered around 5800 deaths – far smaller than the US' 167,000 deaths or the UK's almost 50,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus resource centreBut compared to its Scandinavian neighbours, Sweden's experience is grim. It has recorded 10 times the deaths of Denmark and 20 times that of Norway, both of which locked down harder.Yet, since a peak of 115 deaths a day in early April, Sweden's numbers have tracked consistently downwards.It now has a seven-day average of 226 cases, lower than Victoria. Deaths are about one per day. There has been no detectable second wave, unlike in many other countries including in Scandinavia.The BBC reported that while Sweden's economy shrank a dire 8.6 per cent between April and June, that's lower than the European Union average of 11.9 per cent. However, its economy is only a touch better off then Denmark.Tegnell has consistently said Sweden's pre-vaccine approach to dealing with Covid-19 is more sustainable and preferable to rolling lockdowns and re-openings which he has labelled "disastrous in many ways".Sweden's consistency in its restrictions has led it to be in the now bizarre position of having more in place than many other countries which dropped lockdowns as soon as cases started falling.Strategy 'could be right'Last month, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven threw his weight behind Tegnell's strategy."We can see [coronavirus] is clearly going down. The number of seriously ill people in need of inten...

It's the country that was heavily criticised for deciding to do things differently when it came to coronavirus – to ignore lockdown and keep bars and schools open. And it paid a price with at least 5700 deaths, putting it in the top 10 of nations in terms of coronavirus deaths per million. But, as time goes on, Sweden's controversial approach to tackling Covid-19 is winning over some sceptics. The Swedish economy has shrunk less than other nations and cases have fallen dramatically, deaths have essentially dried up and no significant second wave has occurred. In fact, right now, Sweden looks better than Australia. However, some virus watchers have warned that Sweden's success could be a mirage, that a Scandinavian trait could be behind the low current numbers and the real test could come in as little as one month's time. Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University, told <a href="http://news.com.au" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">news.com.au</a> he doubts Sweden's approach – or that of New Zealand – is perfect. Rather, New South Wales could end up being the exemplar as to how to get a grip on the bucking bronco of Covid-19. "In my view, neither the New Zealand nor the Swedish approach is the way to go," he said. "The trouble with Sweden is it's had a lot of deaths; the trouble with New Zealand is elimination is difficult to achieve. "What's happening in NSW with contact tracing and stopping the spread is more like what we will have to do for the next few years." What is the Swedish Approach? When the world was locking down, Sweden, conspicuously, did not. Sweden's chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell created and drove a unique national Covid-19 strategy. Pubs, most schools and other workplaces remained open. When people in Sydney were banned from supping a beer in a bar, residents of Stockholm were enjoying sundowners with their mates. That's not to say there were no restrictions on the nation's 10 million citizens. People were barred from going to aged-care homes, joining large gatherings and Swedes were encouraged to social distance – which it seems they did almost as much as everyone else. "As a society, we are more into nudging: continuously reminding people to use measures, improving measures where we see day by day the that they need to be adjusted," Tegnell told the journal Nature in May. Swedish cases and deaths down Initially, the plan seemed to backfire. At one point Sweden had more deaths per population than any other country. So far, Sweden has suffered around 5800 deaths – far smaller than the US' 167,000 deaths or the UK's almost 50,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus resource centre But compared to its Scandinavian neighbours, Sweden's experience is grim. It has recorded 10 times the deaths of Denmark and 20 times that of Norway, both of which locked down harder. Yet, since a peak of 115 deaths a day in early April, Sweden's numbers have tracked consistently downwards. It now has a seven-day average of 226 cases, lower than Victoria. Deaths are about one per day. There has been no detectable second wave, unlike in many other countries including in Scandinavia. The BBC reported that while Sweden's economy shrank a dire 8.6 per cent between April and June, that's lower than the European Union average of 11.9 per cent. However, its economy is only a touch better off then Denmark. Tegnell has consistently said Sweden's pre-vaccine approach to dealing with Covid-19 is more sustainable and preferable to rolling lockdowns and re-openings which he has labelled "disastrous in many ways". Sweden's consistency in its restrictions has led it to be in the now bizarre position of having more in place than many other countries which dropped lockdowns as soon as cases started falling. Strategy 'could be right' Last month, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven threw his weight behind Tegnell's strategy. "We can see [coronavirus] is clearly going down. The number of seriously ill people in need of inten...

Anna Mia Ekström: Epidemiologist on Sweden's Covid-19 strategy