In mid-November 2020, I took a swipe at the idiotic Rowan Dean from among the Sky After Dark nutters, for believing he was capable of understanding epidemiology. Dean was advocating that Australia should follow the ‘Swedish model’ in dealing with Covid-19. This entailed voluntary social distancing, some restrictions on the size of crowds, no lockdown and ‘keeping the economy intact’. At the time Dean compared Sweden with the UK, maintaining that it had recorded far fewer deaths per capita than the UK. At the time there was not a great difference, with the UK having 687 deaths per million population, while Sweden had 587 per million. At that time, Australia had recorded 35 deaths per million, and Taiwan 0.3 deaths per million1. Although it is two and a half months ago, it seems much longer, and I suspect it does for many families in many countries who have lost loved ones to this appalling disease.
In that two and a half months, the death rate in the UK has gone up to 1,515 per million; in Sweden it is now 1,137 per million. In Australia the death rate is still at 35 per million, and in Taiwan it is still 0.3 per million2. Taiwan hasn’t had a Covid-19 death since the middle of May, 20203. Australia has had two Covid-19 deaths since the end of October, 20204. Sweden is now coming out of its second wave, but still has a seven-day moving average of 17 deaths per day5. The UK is in far worse shape, with a seven-day moving average of 1,228 deaths per day6. In one day, they have more deaths than Australia has had in the entirety of 2020.
In mid-December, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, in his yearly television review, stated that the nation’s strategy in dealing with Covid-19 was a failure. This was reiterated by the Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who agreed with the king’s remark and stated “Of course, the fact that so many have died can’t be considered as anything other than a failure,” and “it’s when we are through the pandemic that the real conclusions can be drawn”7. It sounds like there will be a reckoning in Stockholm.
Among the Murdoch hacks, other than Dean, who raved about the ‘Swedish Model’ were Adam Creighton, a ‘ruperter’ from the Australian8, Alan ‘it’s not a pandemic’ Jones from Sky News, who conflated the response from Taiwan and Sweden when they were vastly different9. Gina Rinehart’s Institute of Public Affairs also stuck their oar in, by way of Gideon (Gidiot) Rozner, who was quite happy to see people die as long as he could enjoy himself10.
Funny how these halfwits from Murdoch’s and Rinehart’s asylums seem to have gone quiet about the Covid-19 situation in Sweden, now that the Swedes themselves realise they have made a monumental blunder by aiming for some form of herd immunity. That is now at the cost of 11,520 dead (and still climbing). That deserves some sort of reckoning.
Sources
- https://blotreport.com/2020/11/02/rowan-dean-epidemiologist/
- https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
- https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/taiwan/
- https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/australia/
- https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/
- https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55347021
- https://blotreport.com/2020/03/31/the-ignorance-of-adam-creighton/
- https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/alan-jones-praises-sweden-s-covid-19-response-as-a-success-despite-high-death-rate
- https://blotreport.com/2020/04/06/cash-and-corpses/
