Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki slammed Sweden’s no-lockdown policy on the Chinese coronavirus, labelling the approach “Darwinian”.
The Polish prime minister made his comments at a press conference this week on the subject of the coronavirus pandemic when he was asked if he regretted not taking the same approach as Sweden, which let many businesses remain open and did not introduce strict lockdown measures.
“The world’s richest countries have started to choose which patients should receive care and which should not receive care. This is because of the lack of hospital beds, respirators, no proper equipment and no medical personnel. This so-called Swedish model, a Darwinian model, we have not even thought of introducing,” Morawiecki said, Sveriges Radio reports.
He went on to claim that Poland had done much better than Sweden and other Western European countries in terms of coronavirus infections and deaths, with just over 860 deaths for a population of 38 million — compared to Sweden’s reported 3,500+ deaths as of Thursday, with a population around only 10 million.
“We have tried and tried to save every human life and that is why we have taken such quick action,” Morawiecki added.
Poland’s early action on foreign travel, quarantining incomers, locking down schools and businesses and introducing compulsory masks now appears to be reaping economic dividends, too, with retail shops re-opening and restrictions on the number of people allowed in stores at any one time being eased.
Some have lauded the Swedish coronavirus approach, including the World Health Organization (WHO), with Dr Mike Ryan stating that the country could be a model for others to follow late last month.
“I think if we are to reach a new normal, I think in many ways Sweden represents a future model… if we wish to get back to a society in which we don’t have lockdowns,” he said.
However, when compared to its Scandinavian neighbours, Sweden has consistently had a much higher infection rate and a much higher death toll from the virus. Even when compared to European countries with a similar population elsewhere on the continent, such as Austria and Hungary, Sweden’s rates are much worse.
Many have also made arguments that Sweden’s economy will be in much better shape during and after the pandemic but a recent European Union economic projection released earlier in the month claimed the country would see a larger reduction of GDP than countries like Denmark and Austria this year.
Studies comparing consumer spending in Sweden and locked down Denmark during the pandemic found a difference of less than 5 per cent between the two, also.