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Experts say that while contested ‘light touch’ response warrants study each country must find right approach for themCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEU governments that locked down are increasingly emulating the one that did not, but experts warn that Sweden’s Covid approach, relying more on voluntary compliance than coercion, will not suit all – and big questions remain over whether it has...

Chief epidemiologist puts low number of cases down to light-touch ‘sustainable’ approachCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhile many European countries are seeing their infection rates surge to levels not seen since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sweden – whose light-touch approach has made it an international outlier – has recorded the fewest daily cases since the virus emerged.The Scandinavian country’s rolling...

The Swedes were the Brexiters’ poster nation, but now have Europe’s worst death rateCoronavirus – latest updatesTell us: have you been affected by the coronavirus?Covid-19 is nature’s way of making bad situations worse. From the moment it turned the world upside down, you could have predicted that the Chinese Communist party would have arrested whistleblowers and covered up the threat to humanity. It’s what...

Talk of Swedish exceptionalism and wounded national pride has echoes of the forces unleashed in Britain by BrexitCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSweden has persisted with the strategy of coronavirus mitigation that the UK government eventually abandoned in March. The policy is widely supported by the public, even though the Swedish Covid-19 mortality rate is among the 10 highest in the world,...

When I suggested the UK adopt Swedish-style checklists, officials said they would cause panicMany people have been buying, indeed hoarding, loo roll as part of their preparations for the advance of Covid-19. Stockpiling toilet paper is a terrible precaution. At least now with the further spread of the virus, Boris Johnson has called on the public to “commit wholeheartedly to a national effort”.The fundamental...