As the world begins to reflect on how the Covid-19 outbreak affected us and how each nation responded to the pandemic, there is an idea being promoted that the virus did not hit Africa as hard as it did other places.
Nathan Geffen and Francois Venter write that it is easy to promote this view when using the WHO’s official Covid infection and death statistics to claim that the continent fared better than elsewhere.
But the writers argue that there is little evidence of an effective response to the Covid pandemic on the continent and broad generalisations should be treated with caution when analysing a continent as diverse as Africa, which has over 50 states.
When looking at our European counterparts, Sweden is an interesting case as it pertains to dealing with the Covid pandemic.
Emma Frans, a senior research specialist at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, writes that the country took a controversial approach in what some have dubbed “the Swedish experiment”.
The government implemented its pandemic plan, which was originally intended for an influenza pandemic, and encouraged citizens to stay home and social distance rather than enforcing a mandated lockdown.
Later on, some restrictions were introduced while face masks were recommended in certain instances during subsequent waves of the pandemic.
“During spring 2020, the reported COVID death rate in Sweden was among the highest in the world. Neighbouring countries that implemented rapid lockdown measures, such as Norway and Denmark, were faring much better, and Sweden received harsh criticism for its lax approach.”
Frans writes that in many ways the long-term effects of the Swedish approach to dealing with Covid had positive results with one of the lowest death rates in Europe during the first two years of the pandemic.
While the decision to keep primary schools open also paid dividends with incidences of severe acute Covid in children low and a recent study points out that Swedish children didn’t suffer the learning loss seen in many other countries.
Image Credit: This is a representation of what the Covid-19 virus would look like under a powerful microscope. Wikimedia Commons.
