Via The Globe and Mail: Swedish epidemiologist Anders Tegnell the target of praise, criticism over handling of COVID-19 pandemic. Excerpt:
The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a spotlight on public health officials around the world. But few are facing the intense scrutiny that’s been aimed at Sweden’s State Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.
Dr. Tegnell has attracted international attention for his hands off approach to the pandemic and his resolute defence of the Swedish model. There’s no lockdown in the country and most schools, pubs, restaurants and stores remain open. The few measures that have been introduced – social distancing in eateries, no gatherings of more than 50 people and a request that everyone work from home – are largely voluntarily and there are no fines or police checks to ensure compliance.
The strategy has made Dr. Tegnell a target of praise and ridicule. Critics accuse him of gambling with people’s lives and pursuing a dangerous “herd immunity” strategy that has resulted in a soaring mortality rate. Others see him as a hero who has pursued a sensible policy and spared Sweden from economic catastrophe. The 64-year old bureaucrat has become such a polarizing figure that while 2,000 Swedish scientists have signed a petition denouncing his strategy, more than 100,000 people have joined Anders Tegnell fan clubs. He’s even had his face plastered on T-shirts and inked on tattoos across Stockholm.
“It’s all absurd I must say,” Dr. Tegnell said in a recent interview, using the matter-of-fact tone that has become a hallmark of his daily news conferences. “The media attention is something completely different, that’s for sure. I have not been called by Canadian newspapers very often over the years in spite of working with a lot more dangerous things than this.”
The blunt-talking physician who favours brightly-coloured pullovers has spent nearly 30 years in public health, working mainly on vaccine programs and pandemic preparedness before becoming state epidemiologist in 2013. He’s also worked with the World Health Organization in Asia and Africa where he spent time in Zaire during the Ebola outbreak in 1995.
Dr. Tegnell insisted that his go-slow approach to the coronavirus pandemic is working. His objective has always been to pursue measures that were sustainable and that would keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. It didn’t hurt that the Swedes have an inherent trust in government agencies and a willingness to take direction. “There is a big part of trust in the population that this is the right thing to do,” he said.
He pointed out that although the number of new cases has been growing, and is now above 20,000, one third of the country’s intensive care beds remain empty. “There is quite a lot of excess capacity at this stage,” he said. “Our health care service is still functioning.” If anything, he’s feeling vindicated as he watches officials in other countries, including Canada, grapple with how to ease restrictive lockdowns. “To me it looks like a lot of the exit strategies that are being discussed look very much like what Sweden is already doing,” he said.
Dr. Tegnell got a boost this week from Michael Ryan, the WHO’s executive director, who praised the Swedish method of voluntary compliance and said the country was an example for a way out of lockdowns. “I think there may be lessons to be learned from our colleagues in Sweden,” Dr. Ryan told a news conference.
The strategy has not been entirely successful and there have been some serious failings which Dr. Tegnell acknowledged. Sweden’s death toll has topped 2,500 or roughly 22 for every 100,000 inhabitants. That’s higher than neighbouring Norway, Finland and Denmark which have imposed strict lockdowns. Norway and Finland have less than four deaths per 100,000, while in Denmark it is 7.3, according to Johns Hopkins University.
