Posted on 05/22/2020 8:54:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Just 7.3% of Stockholm's residents have developed coronavirus antibodies by April's end amid Sweden's bid for herd immunity, a new study reveals. Sweden was one of a handful of countries that did not implement a lockdown to curb the pandemic even as much of the world shut down.
The results of the study, from 1,118 tests conducted by Sweden's Public Health Agency, is raising concerns over the country's hesitation to set strict measures to slow down the risks of transmissions. Its approach had come in for praise from the WHO, which called the country a "model" for battling the virus. That praise is beginning to now look more like some of the other misguided advice by the global health body over pandemic, which has raise U.S. President Donald Trump's ire.
The country's chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said in a press conference that the percentage was lower than expected. "But not remarkably lower, maybe one or a couple of percent," Tegnell said. "It squares pretty well with the models we have."
Sweden will still carry out the same number of tests every week, for an eight-week period.
Experts say that to achieve herd immunity, 70% to 90% of the population should have caught the virus and developed antibodies to it. Michael Mina of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health said in a recent interview for The World that no community has successfully achieved herd immunity without a vaccine.
Tom Britton, the math professor who helped developed the prediction model for Sweden's Public Health Agency, previously forecasted that 25% of the population should have been infected by May 1. He also predicted that the second wave of COVID-19 will come in autumn, but Sweden's infection rate will be lower.
Britton is now saying that that they might have made a mistake in their calculations.
"It means either the calculations made by the agency and myself are quite wrong, which is possible, but if that’s the case it’s surprising they are so wrong,” Britton said. “Or more people have been infected than developed antibodies.”
Figures from the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine show that Sweden has one of the highest deaths per capita, trailing Spain, Italy, France and the U.K. As of May 21, Sweden has 32,172 coronavirus cases and 3,871 deaths, involving mostly the older population.
Compared to most European countries, Sweden didn't close businesses and schools. Residents, however, were told to avoid long travels and the government emphasized that it's every individual's personal responsibility to avoid contracting COVID-19.
The government has insisted that its strategy against COVID-19 will work. Bjorn Olsen of the Uppsala University in Sweden said that reaching herd immunity is "a long way off” based on the study’s findings.
I guess there’s no international business to analyze, so we get this crap.
And they didn’t destroy their economy.
I would think herd immunity takes time. We’re barely a half year into this.
RE: I guess there’s no international business to analyze, so we get this crap.
If you like the International Business Times, you’re gonna LOVE Business Insider: It’s filled with a lot of health related news even with their name.
Or the antibody tests are flawed and a higher number have antibodies than 7%.
Screw models and predictions...their death rate is lower than most European countries that committed economic suicide.
the virus is hitting those people whether or not we lockdowned or not....
Great news! Less contagious than thought!
Or it’s not that contagious. Can’t have it both ways
Dr Erika Schwartz MD has said that sometimes healthy people don’t develop antibodies, because their natural immune response is so strong.
She also said that vaccines weaken our immune system.
Super sharp lady!
Exactly: The headline should read that only 7% of those tested have antibodies!
So who really failed?
And aren't the hockey stick and exponential growth predictions for Sweden also failing?
Yes, of course they are.
Or the antibody tests are flawed and they aren’t anywhere near 7%.
RE: their death rate is lower than most European countries that committed economic suicide.
Like most European Countries, Most of their deaths are elderly people and those with serious pre-existing conditions.
Also, interestingly enough, a lot of those dying are from immigrant communities ( read: MUSLIMS ).
They didn’t torpedo it to the extent we did, but it’s imploding anyway. Sweden’s Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said their economy is going to shrink 7% this year. The debt office in Sweden said their borrowing to cover emergency spending was up 30x. There was a survey recently in Sweden (I can’t speak to how well it was done or how much trust can be placed in the results) stating that 40% of Sweden’s private businesses were at risk of closing.
It’s worth noting that much of Sweden’s economy is already socialized anyway. They collect nearly half their GDP in taxes. The government there owns part or all of many of the largest businesses operating there. While I might look to Sweden as an example of a more sane response to COVID-19, I certainly wouldn’t look at them as an example of how to run an economy and I wouldn’t call them any sort of economic success story.
RE: Sweden in deep economic crisis despite soft lockdown, as per capita deaths rise
And why would their economy not be affected? Their trading partners and neighbors are ALL in lockdown.
RE: Sweden’s Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said their economy is going to shrink 7% this year. The debt office in Sweden said their borrowing to cover emergency spending was up 30x
Let’s see where this is going ... if they LOCKED DOWN, then their economy would not shrink and their debt would not grow?
How MUCH MORE would their economy have shrunk IF they had locked down their economy?
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