Telegraph
The joy of freedom: Now is the time for me to finally realize what it means to live in Sweden
It started to feel like the epidemic was over in Sweden and we would be escaping the re-emergence of epidemics found elsewhere in Europe. On Tuesday, the slight increase in cases and the possibility of targeted local restrictions came as an unpleasant reminder. Last Saturday I was kicked out of the hotel near the Scan Beach where I worked. “Do you have a cold?”, The man behind the counter asked. “The family here said you had a cough.” Believing that it was not necessary I volunteered to leave. But it was. “Sorry, Corona method, but yes, it’s better.” For me, it was remarkable because of how unusual it was. Since the outbreak in mid-March, Sweden has been very quiet, and its controls have been very soft, which often feels like a crisis happening elsewhere. Looking at the mood, guilt, hysteria and panic raised in the UK, the tranquility here is wonderfully felt, and something to be thankful for. This chapter has been added to my first testimony to the fact that Swedes are consistently following the recommendations of the Public Health Agency – Keep your distance, keep good health, and stay home when you are sick (I think I can add, though it is not a recommendation, a report on fellow customers who did not). On Tuesday and Thursday, Sweden’s state epidemiologist Anders Technell underscored the importance of setting controls at a national level, while outlining his company’s new strategy on local controls, which is highly targeted to end the eruptions quickly, but time is of the essence.
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