Why does Sweden still have FEWER new coronavirus cases than UK despite having no lockdown?
CORONAVIRUS cases in Sweden are consistently lower than in the UK per million people, despite the European country encouraging "individual responsibility" rather than imposing a draconian lockdown.
But now, one expert suggests hand washing and social distancing could have been enough to slow the spread pointing to how Britain's peak began to fall from when these measures were introduced.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
The Scandinavian country has banned gatherings of more than 50 people and has asked citizens to exercise social distancing, but bars and restauarnts remain open and the ecnonomy continues to tick onward.
Even in the country's worst affected region, its capital Stcokholm, life continues almost as normal.
In Stockholm saw infections peaked on April 15, which some believe means the "herd immunity" approach to tackling the virus is working.
Sweden's population is largely concentrated into its urban hubs, and far more sparse in the suburbs - with some parts of the country - for instance the region that neighbours Denmark - seeing barely any cases.
The city currently accounts for more than half of the country's total deaths.
'CONS OUTWEIGH THE PROS'
Anders Wallensten, deputy state epidemiologist, said: "Already a bit more than a week ago, the peak was reached, at least according to this model, and we can expect fewer cases each day."
And the Daily Mail reports the country's daily infection figures are consistently below the UK's, with 66 cases per million in Britain and 53 in Sweden.
The biggest gap between us and the Swedes was recorded over the Easter weekend, when we experienced 13.7 deaths per million to Sweden's 9.2.
The UK has had over 18,000 coronavirus deaths - equivalent to around 283 out of every million people. In Sweden, the current death toll of over 2,000 is equivalent to 195 deaths out of every million people.
It comes as Professor Heneghan, director of Oxford University's centre for evidence-based medicine, warned the UK lockdown's cons could outweigh those of the virus.
The prof told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The key is no-one has really understood how many people actually have the infection.
"You could do that really quickly with random sampling of a thousand people in London who thought they had the symptoms.
"You could do that in the next couple of days and get a really key handle on that problem and we'd be able to then understand coming out of lockdown much quicker.
"In fact, the damaging effect now of lockdown is going to outweigh the damaging effect of coronavirus."
The main concerns following a prelonged lockdown in the UK would be for our economy, as scores of businesses are at risk of crashing with little to no cash flow and millions of Brits unemployed.
Experts have urged the government to consider the long-term economic affects as we battle against the virus.
Meanwhile, in parts of the United States, Sweden has been hailed as a beacon of freedom.
Huge protests have gripped much of America, amid similar economic concerns.
'BE LIKE SWEDEN'
Placards have been seen brandished protesters urging Trump to take the country's lead and "be like Sweden".
However, despite Sweden's chief health official insisting the country could reach her immunity in just a few weeks, experts are quick to point out the country is not yet out of the woods.
Earlier this week Dr. Anders Tegnell, chief epidemiologist at Sweden’s Public Health Agency, said: "In major parts of Sweden, around Stockholm, we have reached a plateau [in new cases] and we’re already seeing the effect of herd immunity and in a few weeks’ time we’ll see even more of the effects of that. And in the rest of the country, the situation is stable."
But experts warning the country's limited testing regime - similar to ours - makes it difficult to completely understand how well their methods work, and that it is still to early to rely on many of the results alone.
And shockingly, a new study suggests that regardless, flatting the curve may not be the key to battling coronavirus.
MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS
A team of international researchers, led by Peking University Professor Liu Yu, suggest the economic impact of a lockdown is not worth the potential affects on the virus, echoing Professor Heneghan.
In the non peer reviewed paper the team said: “The turning point will never come, the peak value of case numbers will remain the same as if there are no such measures.
“We strongly suggest they reconsider.”
a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ac-graphic-map-covid-europe-23-APR-0821.jpg">
