the world reacting to Sweden being "different" when it comes to the Corona virus - Covid 19 [thread].

firstly.

most countries have shut down: schools & shops are closed & you're only allowed to be in gatherings of 2-10 ppl or so.

but.

In Sweden kids are going to school, ppl are going to work, many restaurants remain open, only higher level education is done from home.

Overall the strategy in Sweden has mostly been a series of recommendations and appeal to people's common sense. The authorities trust that people will listen to the Rules that they decided on. (including limiting contact, staying home if you're sick, working from home, etc).

from an international viewpoint, Swedish citizens highly value and confide in the information provided by government agencies, there's trust towards the authorities., something that is rare internationally. This is the foundation that shaped the governments actions.

another reason why the government has this strategy, is that there's limit to what they can do. For example: it's not possible for the government to issue a nationwide curfew as the right to move freely within the country is guaranteed in the Constitution (grundlag).

Recent polls made by SvD/Sifo showed that approximately 65% of Swedes have high faith in the agency for health&security (Smittskyddsinstitutet) & almost 90% have high faith in experts & academics.

66% of the Swedes said they are content with the measures taken by the government.

BUT. Sweden's actions have gotten quite infamous internationally and therefore I felt the need to make this thread to try to show what kinds of things are being said.