Worthy Christian News > World News > Top WHO Official Praises Sweden as Model for Global Future Without Lockdowns

Top WHO Official Praises Sweden as Model for Global Future Without Lockdowns

(Worthy News) – A senior World Health Organization (WHO) official has praised Sweden for its strategy in managing the coronavirus outbreak, the NY Post reported. Executive director of Emergencies Program Mike Ryan told reporters Wednesday: “I think in many ways Sweden represents a model if we wish to get back to a society in which we don’t have lockdowns.” 

Sweden has a population of 10.3 million people and, as of Thursday afternoon, it has suffered 2,460 COVID-19 related deaths. The number of deaths in Sweden is far lower than those in France, Spain, and Italy, which each has over 24,000 deaths. However, the number of deaths in Sweden is much higher than those of the other Scandinavian countries: Denmark has 452, and Norway has 207.

Denmark and Norway implemented lockdowns that were not as stringent as those implemented in EU countries, but which included closing schools. Although Sweden transferred older children to distance learning, its elementary schools stayed open, as did businesses and restaurants; Sweden has taken a different approach to that of most pandemic affected countries.

In his praise for Sweden, Ryan said: “They’ve been doing the testing, they’ve ramped up their capacity to do intensive care quite significantly. And their health system has always remained within its capacity to respond to the number of cases that they’ve been experiencing.”

A particular difference in approach, Ryan said, was Sweden’s reliance on people taking personal responsibility for protecting themselves and others: “What it has done differently is it has very much relied on its relationship with its citizenry and the ability and willingness of citizens to implement physical distancing and to self-regulate.”