Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell is the leader and face of Sweden's strategy in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, which prefers to trust the population than coercive measures.
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AFP
Faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, Sweden has decided to forge its path alone by refusing to confine its population and impose masks.
This does not mean that the barrier gestures were not imposed.
Why did this Scandinavian country make this choice, and with what results?
This is a country where citizens have been able to enjoy spring on the terrace.
A country which said no, in March, to confinement, and which still refuses the wearing of the compulsory mask, indoors and outdoors.
In this Covid-19 pandemic, Sweden is going it alone.
Contrary to almost all countries, which have taken more or less restrictive measures of isolation, closure of borders and public places, restriction of movement, this Scandinavian country has long been singled out.
For some, Sweden embodied the choice of economy over public health.
For others, it proves that the strategy of collective immunity is defended.
While it is still too early to draw clear conclusions on its merits, the Swedish strategy has much to question.
Especially at a time when certain countries, including France, are taking new binding measures ...
No prohibition does not mean no barrier gestures
Far from an image of Epinal where everything is permitted, the Swedes have not lived by ignoring the Covid-19.
The entire population was certainly not confined, but the most vulnerable were encouraged to stay at home.
Nurseries and schools remained open, but not high schools and universities.
In addition, meetings of more than 50 people are still prohibited, even in cinemas or on the occasion of major celebrations, in particular the big party which follows for young people obtaining the equivalent of the baccalaureate.
The national authorities do not recommend the use of the mask for the time being, except for caregivers, but say "keep an eye" on the issue and could introduce the measure if it was deemed necessary.
On the other hand, a significant fact, the kingdom strongly encourages those who can to telework ... until 2021 (at least!).
And 20% of college students in Stockholm continue to take distance education.
Mostly,
the authorities called for responsibility: physical distancing, strict application of hygiene rules, isolation in case of symptoms.
And Alain Gras, socio-ethnologist who knows this country well, to confirm.
Her son lives in Sweden and was infected with the virus.
After notifying his doctor, he was not forced to take a test or see a doctor, but was simply asked to stay at home.
Certain measures have therefore been taken, but the constraints have been and remain less strict.
Above all, it is difficult to assess how these invitations were received.
"It is likely that there are indeed fewer coercive measures than in other countries," underlines Michèle Legeas, teacher-researcher at the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health.
This does not prevent the citizens, who are not taken for cranky children, to perhaps adopt barrier measures themselves.
Individual egoism is sometimes a good driving force… ”
What assessment?
It is questionable: with more than 5,800 deaths and 84,729 cases, Sweden finds itself in the leading group of the European countries most affected in relation to its population: nearly 57 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, against 45 in France or 11 in Denmark.
But we are far from the slaughter promised by some doctors repeating that the strategy of collective immunity was deadly.
In addition, they have today no increase in the number of cases, while France has more than 25,000 cases in seven days.
And that Spain and Germany are also experiencing a new increase in the epidemic.
"The reason we have relatively low transmission now is in large part because many Stockholmers follow the recommendations to stay home when sick, wash their hands and keep your distance," Per said. Follin, Head of the Stockholm Communicable Disease Control and Prevention Department.
The reproduction rate (known as “R”) has been almost continuously below 1 since early July.
For comparison, this last week, Sweden counted less than 200 new cases and less than 3 deaths per day, when France reached 9,000 new contaminations and around 30 daily deaths.
“Beware of triumphalism, warns Michèle Legeas all the same, we cannot claim victory too early, whatever the country in the face of this epidemic.
"
How to explain this reverse strategy?
First by an explained and assumed public health choice: to better fight against this pandemic, the population had to be allowed to catch Covid-19 and protect the most vulnerable.
"Sweden chose collective immunity from the start," recalls Alain Gras, who has taught in Sweden.
The country continues to stand upright in its boots, unlike all the others.
»A way of asserting his attachment to individual freedom… and his will to defend his difference from the rest of the world.
For Alain Gras, the second explanation is trust.
Which goes in both directions.
The authorities place their trust in the people, but the Swedes also have great faith in power.
A survey carried out for the Civil Protection Agency and cited by
Le Monde
reveals that 73% of Swedes trust the Public Health Agency and 52% in the government (against 39% in France).
“Their democracy is much more participatory than coercive in terms of public health,” assures Michèle Legeas.
This questions the interest of compulsory measures versus making citizens responsible.
Isolation on a voluntary basis is certainly better accepted.
Especially over time, which is a current issue.
Because we still have six months or a year to live in complicated conditions….
After a while, when people see that the epidemic is still there when they feel like they've put in their best efforts, it's harder to impose constraints.
In Sweden, the fear of the gendarme is never privileged.
"For example, there is no identity check", illustrates Alain Gras.
Not the town hall, but the pastor
He believes that this ability to chart one's course stems from the weight of the Lutheran religion.
“The Church has played a very big role in administration until recently.
For example, until 1980, when we moved, we did not go to the town hall to report it ... but to notify the pastor.
And so although it is a secular country, there is a respect for the almost religious state.
The other legacy is this call to individual responsibility.
“Luther said: there are enough of priests saying what to do, study the Bible alone and that's how Protestantism started,” summarizes the sociologist.
In the Lutheran Church for example, there is always personal confession, we do not say "my father, I have sinned", but we confess directly.
This induces a very strong moral constraint.
It's not libertarian, we pay attention to the community.
"
Finally, the last hypothesis is the trust placed in a man, Anders Tegnell, head of the Public Health Agency.
The equivalent of our director general of health.
He was the one who made the big decisions and defended them in front of the cameras.
“It relies on a commission, but it retains the responsibility, underlines Alain Gras.
The Minister of Health, the Swedes do not even know her….
So it is his doctrine that has been followed all along.
At the risk of attracting criticism.
Indeed, Swedish teachers denounce certain decisions, in particular on the wearing of the mask.
And he himself acknowledged in June that his flexible approach was arguably not the best fit.
"If we were to encounter the same disease with everything we know today about it, I think we would end up doing something between what Sweden and the rest of the world did," the epidemiologist said on Swedish public radio waves.
Without regretting not having followed the same path ...
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