In the face of the pandemic, Sweden is an exception by refusing to wear a mask

Audio 02:25

On a busy street in Stockholm on July 27, 2020, in Sweden, a country that does not require masks to be worn to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

By: Frédéric Faux

In these times of coronavirus, there has been a lot of talk about Sweden, one of the few countries in the world that has not imposed mandatory confinement on its population. The Nordic kingdom continues to stand out, and this time on the wearing of the mask. It has become in most European countries the privileged weapon in the fight against the coronavirus, especially in transport and shopping centers. But not in Sweden, where the authorities do not recommend its use and where very few people wear it. Sweden, the unmasked country.

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For Christine, a Frenchwoman living in Stockholm, taking the bus in the Swedish capital is always a challenge: “  No one is masked, or they are tourists. Really when you come back from France, where the mask is mandatory, it comes as a shock.  "

But here, nothing more normal. And Jan, who does his shopping with his face uncovered, in a shopping center, welcomes this: “  Our authorities do not recommend wearing a mask. Besides, it's even difficult to find here…  ”

Whether on the bus, trains or airports, in stores or in the streets, the observation is the same: the Swedes, in times of coronavirus, wear little masks, if at all. And the few enlightened people who cover their mouths even run the risk of seeing the eyes become suspicious, or their neighbor changing places. It is only in hospitals, or retirement homes, that people work in masks. An attitude that shocks some Swedes, like Jenny. She joined a small pro-mask demonstration, where she offers fabric protection to passers-by, and does not fail to castigate the inaction of the government: “  We use the mask in so many countries, why we do not do it ? There have been thousands of deaths in Sweden. They don't want to change their strategy, and we wonder why. How can they do this to their own people !  "

But this kind of speech is very much in the minority. The Swedes follow the guidelines of their health agency, and for her, scientific studies do not show that the mask can stop the spread of the virus. It could even have perverse effects if it is contaminated, and you touch its face. Anders Tegnell is chief epidemiologist: “  So far the mask has no role in Sweden, except of course in hospitals and nursing homes. We believe that social distancing, the fact that people do not band together, that they stay home when they are sick, are much more effective measures. These are the ones we should use first, and that's what we do.  "

Wearing a mask is all the less a priority as the epidemiological situation, says Anders Tegnell, does not justify it. At the end of spring, Sweden was certainly the country where we had the most chance of succumbing to the coronavirus. But today the situation has changed. Intensive care admissions are counted on the fingers of one hand, like the daily death toll. Sweden therefore resists the mask, but does not rule out using it in the event of a second wave.

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  • Sweden
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