Sweden’s top infectious disease expert hasn’t budged on the country’s no-mask approach to the COVID-19 pandemic despite the number of new infections trending higher.
Anders Tegnell — Sweden’s equivalent to Dr. Anthony Fauci — defended the decision not to mandate face coverings in the country, which also resisted lockdowns, leaving most schools, restaurants and businesses open.
“We are worried that it would diminish social distancing, which is definitely the most important part,” Tegnell told the UK outlet the New Statesman.
“The studies so far have not shown a dramatic effect, countries such as France and others, which have obligatory mask-wearing in place, have still experienced a big spread of the disease.”
Sweden’s coronavirus strategy has mostly relied on residents to follow social distancing and health guidelines.
But the country’s public health agency has said this week that it will start giving authority to local regions that are experiencing outbreaks to instruct residents to avoid certain public spaces, such as shopping centers, concerts or sports games.
“It’s more of a lockdown situation — but a local lockdown,” Johan Nojd, who leads the infectious diseases department in Uppsala, which is experiencing a rise in cases, told the Telegraph.
Sweden has seen new cases rising higher since early September, climbing to more than 106,000 since the pandemic began, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
The Nordic nation has also recorded 5,922 deaths among COVID-19 patients, a per capita death rate that is higher than its neighbors but lower than countries like Spain, Italy and Britain that opted for lockdowns.
With Post wires
