[mscasts]

Swede here.

Our government was extremely slow to act and didn't shut down anything which let the COVID-19 virus spread rapidly in Sweden and now we have an uncontrolled spread with no testing except for the groups at risk.

The article is basically clickbait, Sweden has one of the lowest amounts of hospital beds and respirators per capita in EU.

We have much fewer ICU-spots than Italy, lower hospital beds etc so we will certainly have a worse time than Italy if we cannot contain the spread somewhat.

The government still hasn't imposed a lot of restrictions compared to other countries. If this is good or bad, will be determined in the future.

[azepoi]

I think that Sweden is regarded as a country with good healthcare quality. The problem here is that western governments thought misleadingly that they were safe because their healthcare systems ranked high in a number of rankings. But here we face what really is a quantitative problem, not a qualitative problem. We can provide good care at an individual level, and the virus is often benign at the individual level. It really becomes a quantitative problem and we are on the exponential phase of the epidemic.

[rurban]

No, Sweden was considered a country with a good healthcare system under the former socialist governments. But now that the capitalists are ruling Sweden and Denmark, the ship turned towards the US and UK systems. With its known problems.

Their healthcare system is now the 2nd worst in the EU. Social problems are rising right and left.

[capableweb]

> Their healthcare system is now the 2nd worst in the EU

WHAT? Now I haven't been to every European country, probably around 30% of them, would be my guess. But literally the country with the best healthcare system of them all, that I've visited a hospital in, have been Sweden.

You got any numbers to backup this claim? Spain, Italy and Greece clearly have a worse healthcare system, and those are just three examples I can think of quickly. Surely lots of countries in eastern europe has it worse than Sweden.

One source showing the opposite of what you're saying:

> Sweden is ranked third by the Commonwealth Fund, with a high proportion of doctors, above-average healthcare spending, and relatively low prescriptions of drugs.

From https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/09/which-countr... which is using Commonwealth Fund as it's source.

[eng_monkey]

> Spain, Italy and Greece clearly have a worse healthcare system, and those are just three examples I can think of quickly. Surely lots of countries in eastern europe has it worse than Sweden.

Spain has one of the best healthcare systems in the world, usually ranked by the WHO within the top 10 while Sweden's was within top 30.

[capableweb]

Can we please start adding sources to our statements? I guess you're going by this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization_rank...

Both Spain and Sweden seems to be about equal if you average the rankings in that list. So surely if Spain has one of the best healthcare systems in the world, Sweden is pretty equal, then Sweden is nowhere near being the "2nd worst in the EU" when it comes to healthcare.

[gbrindisi]

Data in there is a bit old but... no need to average, just sort by overall performance.

[gbrindisi]

> Spain, Italy and Greece clearly have a worse healthcare system, and those are just three examples I can think of quickly.

I am Italian and I live in Sweden. I am happy my family is in Italy right now.

[rurban]

https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/best-healthcare-... per capita.

Behind is only Germany, Finland, Denmark, Slovenia, Poland. Ok, last time I've looked they were 2nd worst, now 6th.

Italy and Spain do have much better systems, by far. World Top 5. Even Greece is much better.

[capableweb]

Thanks for providing the source. 6th sounds more reasonable indeed.

[mcv]

> "the ship turned towards the US and UK systems"

But which one? The US and the UK healthcare systems are polar opposites. US is entirely privatised with many gaps in coverage, and it's the most expensive healthcare system in the world. The UK (despite its general conservativeness) has an entirely socialised system that's the cheapest in Europe.

[kmlx]

> But now that the capitalists are ruling Sweden and Denmark, the ship turned towards the US and UK systems. With its known problems.

the UK system is public, one of the best in the world. the US system is private and one of the best in the world.

> Their healthcare system is now the 2nd worst in the EU.

you haven't been around the EU a lot right? i come from a 3rd world EU country and I can assure you Sweden is in the top EU countries.

[rjsw]

The UK system has been starved of funding for the last 10 years.

[kmlx]

Doesn't matter how starved the systems are. They're still top notch compared to most of the rest of the world. I know it's hard to see and understand this until you end up in one of the many countries where the health system is in reality non-existent, or worse, incompetent.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/best-healthcare-...

[ChuckNorris89]

All health systems in Europe are starved of funding. I live I Austria and every year the health insurance covers less and less requireing you to fork more non life threatening stuff out of your own pocket. This is due in some part to an ever increasing aging population needing expensive care and lower tax income due to slower economic growth.

[robk]

Social problems are linked to immigration no?

[jdylanm]

Swede here aswell. The government, which follows our public health authority's recommendations, have in my opinion taken many appropriate decisions regarding the spread.

Since it is a pandemic, the spread of the virus is inevitable. If we would quarantine whole cities too early, or take other measures too early, it would just hurt us economically and push the problem forward. It's all about all about timing now and flattening the curve, which we have under control at the moment.

I am proud of our government taking decisions based on the public health authority's recommendations which are based on science. Compared to some other countries who take decisions not based on science (e.g. Denmark closing it's borders at the time was not recommended by their public health authority).

[jdance]

Yes I'm relieved to see what I consider a level headed response. I hope that I am right and we will of course see. I remember reading a quote from our "public health authority guy" something like "it's obvious that other countries decisions are based on politics, not science". That's a pretty brave thing to say, the easy decision would have been to follow along and close everything.

I am of the very unpopular opinion that all people actually die, that quality of life is the only thing that trumps life, and that we have to bring these things into the equation at some level. Now some people read this and immediately think that I suggest that we do nothing and let everyone die, but no I just want us to consider all sides of the equation thoroughly.

[jacobush]

Also Swede here. I have high hopes that the decision to not yet close elementary schools will have been the right choice, for now. Time will tell though and the whole thing is very unsettling.

But yes, Sweden handled this ineptly. People were coming home from hot spots in Italy - they were not tested, not told to self quarantine, anything. That's just plain stupid and slow, there's no excuse for that.

[mscasts]

Yes shutting down elementary schools for children that needs parental supervision is probably a bad idea since that leads to the need of a parent at home.

Parents who otherwise would be working at hospitals or other important features of a society. But there has been a lot of other options that just passed as you mention.

[danmaz74]

Restrictions in Italy have been continuously yanked up as the situation became worse and worse. I hope the same isn't going to happen in Sweden, but wouldn't count on it. Stay safe.