Re: COVIDD-19 'Pandemic'
For any who had the same sense as Sweden.
If Sweden is so wrong to keep pubs open why is its health chief's face the tattoo everyone wants? ASKS IAN GALLAGHER
By Ian Gallagher Chief Reporter For The Mail On Sunday
25 Apr 2020
Down at the Tudor Arms last week, regulars toasted their good fortune, happy to be in one of the last pubs on Earth still open.
There were endless pints of Guinness and London Pride bitter, while rules about not standing at the bar and ensuring a 5ft distance between tables were scrupulously observed.
Unsurprisingly, Covid-19 monopolised conversation, but it was a convivial evening nonetheless. Wobbling slightly, an elderly customer sauntered off at closing time with a tune on his lips.
Those minded to dial a shop- a-neighbour hotline should rest easy, for this Tudor Arms is not in the UK, but is a British-themed pub in Stockholm. In Sweden, the rules are different. It refuses to join the rest of the world in harsh quarantine.
Children are still in school, bars and restaurants are open, as are garden centres and shops; crowds of up to 50 are allowed, and no one is chastised for sunbathing, sitting on park benches or daring to flee to countryside boltholes.
It is a strategy aimed at allowing some exposure to the disease to build immunity among the general population, while protecting the vulnerable and ensuring hospitals are not overwhelmed.
But the country’s light touch has incurred criticism. Sweden has a reputation as a ‘moral superpower’ and commentators seize upon any death-toll spike as evidence of a foolhardy gamble that risks lives for the sake of the economy.
Sweden considers the big picture, though, and argues that part of its policy is aimed at preventing an economic crash, as mass unemployment will have dire health consequences. For example, after the 2009 debt crisis, suicides in Greece increased by up to 40 per cent.
But many Swedes feel as if outsiders enduring lockdown are willing them to fail. ‘It makes you defensive,’ says Anglo-Swede Alex McBeath, who works at the Tudor Arms. ‘I’m cautiously optimistic about the future. I support the way we have approached the crisis.’
So does the majority of the country. Anders Tegnell, 63, state epidemiologist with the Public Health Agency of Sweden and the architect of its Covid-19 response, fronts daily press conferences. Inevitably, he receives online vitriol.
Yet he is so popular that some in Stockholm have had his face inked on to their arms and legs. Tattooist Zashay Tastas, who designed the image, says: ‘Tegnell has become the face of Sweden’s approach. This is the first time a real nerd is being idolised.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...xpert-popular-people-getting-FACE-tattoo.html
