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The Swedish example is regularly raised by libertarian-minded Conservatives when protesting against government restrictions aimed at quelling the spread of the virus in the UK. But what did the Scandinavian country do differently and could it be applied elsewhere?When politicians across the world were confronted with the reality of a spreading pandemic, hospitals nearing capacity and deaths rising almost all of them reached for...

The right fails to recognise that the Swedes’ real virtue in this pandemic is their social cohesionSweden is to the 21st-century right what the Soviet Union was to the 20th-century left. Conservatives have transformed it into a Tory Disneyland where every dream comes true. On the shores of the Baltic lies a country that has no need to curtail civil liberties and wreck the...

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...

Family ‘nailed apartment door shut with planks’ and isolated three children from each otherCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThree children taken into care after being locked up by their parents for nearly five months in case they caught the coronavirus should not be allowed to return home, an administrative court in Sweden has ruled.From March until early July, the children, aged between...

Only 46% of voters in Britain think their country has done well, compared with 95% in DenmarkCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePeople in Britain have given a worse assessment of their country’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak than the electorates of 13 other leading democracies, according to international research.Only 46% of the British population believe their country has done a good job...

Covid-19 caused about 4,500 deaths in six months to end of June as Sweden opted against strict lockdownCoronavirus - latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSweden, which has stood out among European countries for its low-key approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic, has recorded its highest tally of deaths in the first half of 2020 for 150 years, the Statistics Office said.Covid-19 claimed about 4,500...

Spanish government injects £4bn while Sweden study casts doubt on herd immunityCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMore than 8,000 people have been quarantined in fresh outbreaks of Covid-19 in three areas of Germany, while the most comprehensive study yet on immunity in Sweden showed very few people had developed antibodies.As governments across Europe continue to ease their restrictions, authorities in North Rhein...

Anders Tegnell says there was ‘potential for improvement’ in country’s strategy to fight pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSweden’s chief epidemiologist and the architect of its light-touch approach to the coronavirus has acknowledged that the country has had too many deaths from Covid-19 and should have done more to curb the spread of the virus.Anders Tegnell, who has previously criticised other countries’...

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...

Official findings add to concerns about Sweden’s laissez-faire strategy towards the pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageJust 7.3% of Stockholm’s inhabitants had developed Covid-19 antibodies by the end of April, according to a study, raising concerns that the country’s light-touch approach to the coronavirus may not be helping it build up broad immunity.The research by Sweden’s public health agency comes as Finland...

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,...

But Ann Linde warns of tougher action after Stockholm pubs are shut for breaking rulesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSweden’s foreign minister has said it is way too early to judge her country’s light-touch approach to Covid-19, but warned the government would take tougher action if needed after five Stockholm pubs were shut for not observing physical distancing.“There’s been a lot of...

As the country follows Denmark in easing Covid-19 restrictions, pre-school has become very different for its younger citizensCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt was school, but not quite as they knew it. Outside the Hullebergmyra nursery in Ullern, west of Oslo, William Bugge was dropping off his children Louise, three, and Jonas, five, after six weeks of quarantine.Yellow smileys painted on the...

The pandemic is a huge test for nation states – and success or failure depends on pre-existing valuesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThat coronavirus is colour blind and respects no borders is true enough, although far from being the great equaliser, it forces the poor to bear the brunt. And given the prominent role played by experts in epidemiology who speak in...

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...

The disappearance of this friendly gesture reflects the fragmented European response to the coronavirus Europeans have stopped shaking hands. That is, I and almost everyone I have come across has stopped.At an event last week hosted by the German foreign ministry in Berlin, we shunned the handshake. We huddled awkwardly, nodding heads, or half-jokingly stretched out a leg to touch an interlocutor’s foot as...