Excellent News from Sweden

Here we provide details of a Swedish Press Conference held on 22nd April. It gives a totally different picture to the “All the Swedes are gonna die!” rhetoric of the UK Media.

The full article, nearly 3,000 words, is posted below, or you can see it on the original site here.

Some key points are:

The reporting journalist, Celia Farber, is Swedish-American and fluent in Swedish.

Sweden’s “lockdown” has such a light touch that in UK terms it is no lockdown at all (which is how it has been characterised by the British press.)

Sweden has not suffered more than other countries.

Among twenty-two European doctors opposing the engulfing Covid model and propaganda, the renowned German infectious disease expert Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, said of lockdowns:

“All these measures are leading to self destruction and collective suicide based on nothing but a spook.”

About 1/3 of the populations tested in Sweden are positive and not sick.

Sweden is managing a slow spread of the virus.

End of Summary.

If we take herd immunity to Covid19 as achieved when 60% to 70% of the population is resistant (See Dummies Guide to Epidemiology here) then Sweden is nearly half way there. They don’t suggest a date when they might get there; they are pursuing a simple policy of “maintain course and speed” while constantly checking for potential problems. In the meantime, most of their kids are still in school, and their economy is not crashing.

Full Article:

Sweden Shatters Lock-down Model As Curves Stay Flat, Population Found Exposed But Not Sick; German MD Calls Corona Lock-down Measures “Collective Suicide Based On A Spook”

I have good news for you. It’s a kind of bottled northern light, and I can’t wait to share it. A bottle of life, brought to you from one of the dullest yet most joyous and riveting press conferences I ever watched. Never before has “nothing happened,” been a bigger story.

The press conference was on the website of the Swedish Health Ministry, posted April 22, and ran just over 45 minutes.

The “controversial” health minister of Sweden, Anders Tegnell, and colleagues revealed the latest results of the Sweden Covid model which—as we all know— did not lockdown, did not quarantine.

Anders Tegnell, Photo Courtesy kxan36news
Anders Tegnell, Photo Courtesy kxan36news

What made it “riveting” was this: There is no crisis, no death spikes, no national emergency, no shortage of hospital beds. Listening to the press conference, (twice) and transcribing every word was like watching paint dry. And with each passing moment, the story became clearer and clearer to me:

Sweden can save the world right now.

It’s not easy to get the real story out of Sweden. You will see many histrionic headlines from international media claiming Sweden is headed straight over a cliff, led by a maniacal health minister, Anders Tegnell, from Folkhalsomyndigheten, (FHM.) (The People’s Health Authority.) Call these voices “Corona Davidians.” A kind of secular doomsday cult.

Sweden is known for her isolationist, cautious, and non-continental tendencies. Interestingly, no country is more closely associated with the fetish for safety (“trygghet,” in Swedish) than this Scandinavian power-country. So for Sweden to do this—it’s truly an unexpected plot twist. Many of us have been watching the numbers coming out of Sweden, especially, this last week, as though our lives depended on it. And maybe they do. But will anybody ferry the Swedish good news to the President of the United States?

I grew up in Sweden, am half Swedish and speak the language fluently. Were this not the case I would not be able to report the facts as I do here. There would only be statistics which people are perverting and inverting in the name of Corona hysteria. By listening to entire press conferences, you get the whole picture.

Here is the essence of it:

Sweden, led by Tegnell and his colleagues at FHM, went its own way, to the shock of the world, and created its own model to achieve national herd immunity. Moderate social distancing was advised (but not enforced) and the focus was on protecting the elderly. Businesses were advised to limit density of crowds, schools were not closed—life went on. It’s working.

“The curve is very flat, really since the beginning of April and that’s very good news,” Tegnell said. “It’s very good news, there’s no rise in cases in Stockholm, at all.”

This comes on the heels of 22 formidable doctors from Europe, opposing the engulfing Covid model and propaganda.

One of them, renowned German infectious disease expert Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, called his government’s anti-Covid measures “grotesque, absurd and very dangerous. The life expectancy of millions is being shattered.” Referring to the impact on the world economy as “horrifying,” Bhakdi really did not mince words:

“All these measures are leading to self destruction and collective suicide based on nothing but a spook.”

Tegnell said Sweden has fanned out with regional testing, and they are finding that about 1/3 of the populations tested are positive and not sick, while 2/3 have never been exposed. “We’ve started testing a lot of healthcare professionals,” he said.

Sweden does not count positive RNA PCR tests as “cases” but rather calculates case loads from patients presenting with acute symptoms to the emergency hospitals, known as “IVA.” Once again, Tegnell used the word “flat”

“It’s rather flat. Looking at Sweden and the number of IVA cases, the IVA cases have not moved. We have 15,000 new cases reported and one thousand one hundred fifty eight people who have been treated at IVA so far.”

The number of deaths, he said is very complex and hard to get at, because Sweden is still trying to toggle between the death registry and the IVA to see how many deaths may be COVID-19 and which ones are not. In Sweden, like it is in the rest of the world, those who died had co-morbid conditions, were over 65, and many over 80 or even 90 years old. The main comorbidities were diabetes, hypertension, chronic heart and lung conditions, and obesity. A total of 1536 sought medical care for COVID-19, and all told, 1209 people have been hospitalized. No children have gotten any form of what is called COVID-19 in Sweden.

Tegnell pointed out that this data was evident from Wuhan and has remained consistent: Children neither spread it nor get it. He spoke of a school in Finland where a child was “infected” but nobody else at the school was infected. Nor did the child get sick. This circles back to our questions about the test itself, and the lack of a gold standard virus to work from.

The deaths have been (as far as I can tell) entirely in the elderly and primarily those in nursing homes. Deaths from what? I need to call them “Ostensible COVID-19 Deaths.”

First of all, how many have died in Sweden of Ostensible Covid (OC)? 100,000 are said to have died in all of Europe but that number is very questionable, since there is no agreed upon standard of determining a COVID-19 death from an influenza or multiple-underlying-causes pulmonary death.

Tegnell said he and his team had begin testing sample populations that exhibited no symptoms. Over the past three weeks they have tested approximately 20,000 people per week, including health care workers, in various parts of Sweden. “It was about two and a half percent that tested positive,” Tegnell said. “If we let our statistical mathematicians calculate this, they’ve arrived that the most cases hit us on April 15th, a week ago and then the peak was reached. That doesn’t mean the spread stops, but that was the peak of the curve. This model also says that in a week, at around the first of May, about a third of Stockholm’s residents will have been exposed, but two thirds have not been exposed and can still be exposed. We also have studies that show that for every confirmed case, there are 999 others who have not sought medical care. Mild cases that have been cleared up at home. It speaks to that there are very many who never need a diagnosis. Diagnosis is not important. Those who need (go for) medical care get diagnosed.”

“This modeling is consistent with the one presented last week by Thomas Britton. We will refine it as we get more data. We’re going to keep testing various regions of Sweden and see how many are sick and refine our modeling. We’re going to get more data for all of Sweden. And we’re going to do studies on immunity to see how many have already been exposed by measuring antibody reactions. All this points to understanding how we’re going to act, it’s also the basis of our strategy.”

We will refine it as we get more data. We’re going to keep testing various regions of Sweden and see how many are sick and refine our modeling. We’re going to get more data for all of Sweden. And we’re going to do studies on immunity to see how many have already been exposed by measuring antibody reactions. All this points to understanding how we’re going to act, it’s also the basis of our strategy.”

“Together we can stop the spread. Even if we’ve plateaued and it’s not increasing, that doesn’t mean there’s no spread. Like we said two-thirds can still be exposed, so stay home even if you feel a little bit sick. So, wash your hands with soap and water. If you’re seventy years or older, stay home and avoid contact with people.”

Denmark is reportedly planning to allow gatherings of up to 500 people starting on May 11th. There were also questions about something being announced on April 30, to which Tegnell smiled wryly and said: “Ask the government,” suggesting that he does indeed have the full support and backing of Prime Minster Stefan Lofven, a Social Democrat.

In other words, Sweden says, it’s not a case until somebody seeks treatment. Positive PCR tests (naturally) are emerging in other parts of the country, and the pattern emerging is that most who test positive have no symptoms. Addressing acute care (and contrast this with Andrew Cuomo’s daily morbid, self-important braying) Tegnell said:

“As I said the IVA cases are at a very consistent level with possible decline of late. No dramatic changes there. Dead per day: we found—everybody who was reported as a COVID patient, we ran them in the computers against the death registry and we found some COVID deaths that were not reported earlier. [Retroactively, there was a slight spike.] We caught a few more cases that way. In conclusion, we’re following the blue curve, we’re under-capacity in the hospitals in Stockholm and the rest of Sweden. But to stay there, it’s important that we not lose these fundamental messages about staying home if you feel sick. And for those who are seventy or older, it’s important to reduce contact with different people. Do go out and exercise, but don’t go to places with a lot of people. Think about hygiene and social distancing so we stay on this curve.”

One of his colleagues spoke next. (She did not give her name.) He message was short and to the point:

“No region is reporting a rise in catastrophic medical preparedness. Nobody is reporting that being activated and this is very positive. Those of us who work with catastrophic medical preparedness… it means that we can continue to keep our eyes on the two-thirds that are not infected.”

Let me drive home the point: The country that did not lock down its people, has seen no region reporting any rise in catastrophic medical preparedness.

A reporter asked Tegnell: (compare and contrast with Trump pressers)

“I’m asking on behalf of my mother, I’ve been buying food for my parents for several weeks because they’ve been self-isolating. It’s not problem, to buy food for them but they miss their grandchildren a lot and I can imagine many more who also do. She’s wondering when she can hug her grandchildren again. Can you say anything? How long shall our elderly have to be without their grandchildren?”

Tegnell replied:

“It’s a very difficult question. Just because the curve is flattening and all the numbers are staying low, it doesn’t mean we can feel totally secure for our elderly because most of them will not have immunity and that’s what we’re talking about now, we’re talking about this exit strategy, when can you let things go. And we feel it will take a bit of time before we can release the protections around our elderly because they’re going to continue to be vulnerable. I would say it will be a few more months. [Before they can hug their grandchildren.] We’re going to solve a lot of problems when we get the population immune, but the elderly, we’re still working on how to protect them. And we’re also looking at getting better tests, so we can determine that the grandchildren are immune. That’s one possible solution. If these tests work out well and we can guarantee that a person is no longer infected—it’s still a little shaky. We don’t have a great solution or great answer right now.”

A reporter asked about the deaths. Tegnell’s answer was very interesting. Again, Sweden does not diagnose COVID cases nor deaths with the promiscuity/laxity/non-specificity seen in other parts of the world.

“We don’t use deaths for our modeling because they are too uncertain in many different ways,” he said. “But our modeling instead is based around diagnosed cases. We have said several times deaths are important in many ways, but not when it comes to building strategies because there’s too long [an interval] between getting exposed and dying. We’ve done this quality control against the death registry for cases where they died long, long after they were exposed and for some reason were not picked up by our healthcare system. But now with this new quality control system, we’re finding them. We do this once a week.”

Asked again if the overall trend was a flattening of the curve, he said yes. Then he continued to quietly blaspheme against the global new religion of COVID-Panic, driven by mass media’s unexamined assertions, by saying this:

“We still know very little about this illness, above all how it spreads. But even the earliest data from China pointed to children not being vulnerable for infection. That data was already available from many different sources and it depends of course, how you interpret that data. I haven’t seen any data about contagion in schools. All the data I’m seeing is that children don’t get sick. Data from Iceland and other places all point to that children are not contagious. We found a few cases in Sweden and Finland of positive children but they didn’t spread to anybody. Even if it isn’t highly publicized, there’s a lot of data saying schools aren’t a driver of Covid.”

Why then, did America close its schools?

Why then, do we seem focused on “experts” that can not even get the data with which they form their models correct?

Why then, does anybody believe a word Bill Gates says?

A reporter asked: “In France and Denmark they’re saying 15 students in class, 2 meters social distancing. What do you think of this?” Again, Tegnell’s reply was quietly, soberly, explosive. “You’re talking about countries that have been under lock-down. When you do lock-down—it’s always a worry when you’ve had total lock-down that you’ll get a sudden spike of very many cases and many people who weren’t infected will be hit. In Sweden we’ve had a low spread the whole time, probably also in the schools which means we don’t have to worry about these spikes. There are recommendations also for Swedish schools. They’re discovering in France I’m sure, it’s very difficult to enforce them.” Faint smile.  (Picture children when the bell rings for recess. How would you enforce “social distancing, to minds who can’t yet think in terms of processed ideological submission?)

A reporter from Norway asked why statistical bureau SCB seemed to have contradictory data. Tegnell: “No we all have the same basic data and the same death registry that SCB has so I don’t think there should be a discrepancy.”

Norwegian reporter: “But is it rising or is it flattening?”

Tegnell: “Our curves that are much longer than SCB’s, we see a very stable level right now.”

Lastly, two reporters asked about two high tourist areas—Blekinge and Gotland, both isolated, what have almost no “cases,” a number below 20. They want to know whether the parts of Sweden with very slow spread will be behind the rest of the country, meaning not have achieved herd immunity. (Though nobody expressly uses the term.)

Tegnell says: “This is a brand new model we’ve brought forward now and it was not the basis for our decisions but we’re going to keep refining them and it’s going to continue guiding us going forward, especially when we think about how we can ease restrictions in society. There are many parts of the country where the spread is going very slowly. We have to be very careful not to make long term interpretations based on that.”

The reporter persists, asking: “What are the chances that Blekinge and Gotland are so isolated that they will continue to have fewer cases when the pandemic is over?”

Tegnell replies:

“This illness is unpredictable. It would surprise me if over time most parts of Sweden would not have about the same number of people infected.”

A reporter asks yet another question about Ingmar Bergman’s beloved island, where he lived most of his life: “On Gotland, we’ve had 19 positives for a very long time, which is very good and there’s great hope that we should be able to travel this summer. Since Gotland has these very few cases, won’t we be more vulnerable if we can’t get these numbers up?”

Tegnell replies, “Well that could be, I can’t promise that in parts of the country where there are extremely low infection rates that they wouldn’t go up later.”

Journalist: “So how to you look upon opening Gotland for the summer for tourism?”

Tegnell: “We’ll see, too early to say.”

The last question is, “We understand there’s going to be a big press conference on April 30th.”

Tegnell:

“I’ll leave that to the government. Ask the government.”

(Smiles)

This article was written by Keith