, Columnist
So Was Sweden a Covid Success or Failure?
Either way, it hasn’t really earned its place as a lightning rod in the debate over pandemic policy.
Sweden had its own anti-lockdown protests.
Photographer: Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Sweden has been a lightning rod since early in the Covid-19 pandemic. Opponents of lockdowns and mask mandates in the U.S. and U.K. pointed to its more-relaxed approach and relatively modest death toll as evidence that drastic measures were not only overkill, but counterproductive.
Critics of Sweden’s approach, meanwhile, noted that it is a nation of only 10 million people in a relatively isolated corner of Europe, and that its fellow Nordic countries have all done a far better job of protecting their citizens from Covid-19.