An article in The Times claims Britain's death toll would have been much higher if we hadn't locked down. Yet it omits one very important point: infections were almost certainly falling when the first lockdown began.
Unlike SAGE's Prof Graham Medley, Sweden's Dr Anders Tegnell provides his Government with scenarios other than the worst case.
Throughout the pandemic, those in favour of more restrictions have argued that restrictions drive behaviour and behaviour drives infections. Yet rising mobility frequently coincides with falling case numbers.
Why are some countries surging this autumn but others aren't? India had a big Delta surge but has seen no new rise since, while the impact of Delta on Sweden has been very modest. Why is that?
New figures from the ONS show that, between January 2020 and June 2021, Sweden had *negative* excess mortality. This constitutes a complete vindication of Anders Tegnell's "trust-based" approach. Well done, professor!
A new study from Norway finds vaccination makes no difference to the risk of dying in hospital from Covid, though it does reduce severity for survivors in terms of length of hospital stay and risk of ICU admission.
Although it was heralded as a dangerous move by media outlets and academics across the West, Sweden has emerged with a much lower death toll than many nations which enforced strict lockdown measures.
A new Lancet pre-print study from Sweden finds zero vaccine efficacy against infection after nine months, and worrying drops against severe disease as well. But some people are living in a parallel universe.
Health authorities in Sweden have suspended the roll-out of the Moderna Covid vaccine in the under-30s due to concerns about side effects, including inflammation of the heart muscle.
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi has insisted to MPs in the Commons that vaccine passports are necessary to end the pandemic. Israel and India tell a different story.
