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SWEDEN: Joel Munkhammar reveals what the unorthodox ‘Swedish COVID-19 Experiment’ has meant for his family

In this special series ordinary people across the world share stories of their struggle to survive in a pandemic world. Late in 2019 a mysterious illness emerged at a seafood and poultry market in the sprawling capital of Central China’s Hubei province. The growing outbreak was reported to the World Health Organisation on December 31, which confirmed a novel coronavirus was the cause of the respiratory illness in a cluster of people on January 12, 2020. COVID-19 was officially first detected in Sweden on January 3, 2020, when a woman returning from Wuhan tested positive for the virus, though some reports suggest the first case could have even been as early as the month prior. More travel-related clusters emerged until community transmission was officially declared on March 9 in Sweden’s capital of Stockholm. Two days later the city recorded the nation’s first death. The pandemic has since spread to every one of Sweden’s 21 counties. Sweden has attracted significant international attention for its response to the pandemic. The Scandinavian nation’s unorthodox decision to shun the hard lockdowns used by the rest of Europe and much of the world to control the spread of the virus has drawn great international scrutiny. Rather than taking a hardline approach to its COVID risk management, the Swedish strategy instead relies on the public voluntarily following health recommendations regarding issues such as social distancing and hygiene. Its decision stems from the country’s constitution which legally protects its people’s freedom of movement. The country’s chief epidemiologist tasked as architect for the strategy Dr Anders Tegnell defended his plan at a press conference in April 2020, saying: “Locking people up at home won’t work in the longer term, sooner or later people are going to go out anyway.” The decision maker behind the novel policy has polarised commentators across the world, as well as those within the country’s borders. Swedish nationals have largely applauded the bold strategy, having enjoyed a relatively unchanged life compared with much of the world since the pandemic was declared. Others have been more vocal in their criticism, such as Swedish mathematician at Lund University Marcus Carlsson who condemned the plan as “a mad experiment with 10 million people” in which the Government was “playing Russian roulette with the Swedish population”. Within two months deaths to COVID in Sweden had surpassed those in neighbouring countries, forcing Dr Tegnell to admit too many Swedes had died, particularly in nursing homes. “If we were to encounter the same disease again, knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would settle on doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done,” he said in June 2020. But more than a year on the Scandinavian country continues to shun hard lockdowns, even during the height of its infections surge over its deadly Christmas that filled Stockholm’s intensive care unit to capacity. Today, despite predictions case numbers will likely ramp up in coming months due to the spread of the highly infectious delta variant, the Nordic country remains on track to completely abolish what little restrictions that remain in line with high vaccination rates. According to Sweden’s Public Health Authority, 82 per cent of people aged 16 and over had received one vaccination dose, and 73 per cent had received two as of September 14. Elsewhere in the world scepticism surrounding the ongoing feasibility of hardline responses to COVID outbreaks such as lockdowns is mounting. With lockdown fatigue settling in and concern surrounding the devastating cost restrictions pose for individuals, families, communities and economies growing, the Swedish strategy has offered a window of valuable insight into how the pandemic has progressed without extreme containment measures. Engineer Joel Munkhammar reveals what the unorthodox Swedish COVID-19 experiment of shunning hard lockdowns in favour of relative freedom has meant for him and his young son. Here is his story. JOEL MUNKHAMMAR, 35, ENGINEER FROM KUNGSBACKA, SWEDEN ‘We have had no lockdowns’ Many people lost their job when COVID first hit, especially within hotel and restaurant businesses. I’ve been working from home since March 2020, so almost 1.5 years now. Time flies. My days are at the computer in meetings most of the day, so no lack of communication really. We have had no lockdowns in Sweden, only restrictions such as opening hours and the number of people limited to certain areas, such as gyms, bars and restaurants. In the beginning there were limitations on the number of people gathering in the same area, with a maximum of eight people, gyms were closed down, sporting events, festivals, concerts were forbidden, restaurants and pubs were only allowed to keep open until 8.30pm. But things are different now. I’ve been going to the gym or running a couple of days a week, grocery shopping and picking up my three-year-old son Leo from kindergarten. ‘An increase in alcohol consumption and divorce’ Many of my friends have contracted COVID, but I haven’t... at least not to my knowledge. I was very cautious in the beginning, not knowing the vast impact the virus would have and limiting myself from doing things. Over time, I realised in order for me to keep a healthy mind I have to work out and meet people. The best we could do was to take walks outdoors, so I began working out with others doing CrossFit which helped me a lot keeping my stress level down as well as being more focused and feeling better. I realised early on that I had to keep routines working, and be quite strict with them. Such as working out, not working too long working days and spending time in nature. I focused on being a more present dad during this time, and me and my son always go out to do something during the weekends which really makes me glad. For my own sake, nothing about COVID really bothers me. I have focused on keeping my health and relationships a top priority. But for others, I definitely think it is very difficult being in solitude. We are meant to interact with one another and not sit isolated in one’s own home for this long. Generally in Sweden, I think the isolation and not being able to go to work “as normal” has had the biggest impact on people’s mental health. The lack of socialising has made their own bubble quite small, quite fast. We’ve also seen an increase in both alcohol consumption as well as people divorcing. ‘People are less scared after the vaccine’ I have had my first vaccination and the second is booked. Vaccinations started earlier this year and now almost all people are vaccinated. The Government provides the vaccination for free and timeslots can be booked online. The high-risk groups started first and it moved from the top down — from oldest to youngest. First, my social life was very limited due to COVID, but since then the Government has slowly opened up again. It’s now easier to go out, people are less scared after they’ve received the vaccine and life is slowly going back to normality. Restaurants and pubs are open for longer hours, people are starting to work out again, socialising and interacting, even travelling has slowly begun, both domestic and international. ‘Five steps to normal’ The Government has five steps to remove the restrictions. Right now we are about to begin the third step. The restrictions on long-distance public transport have been removed as has any prohibited access to places congestion could occur. The fourth step is scheduled to begin on September 29, where there will be no restrictions for private or public gatherings or events. A gradual return to the workplace can also begin. However, certain special regulations may be needed for very large public gatherings and public events in the future. The final step — step five — will mean the last remaining restrictions will be lifted. WHO OFFICIAL STATISTICS (AS AT SEPTEMBER 14, 2021) SWEDEN GLOBAL

The West Australian exclusiveSWEDEN: Joel Munkhammar reveals what the unorthodox ‘Swedish COVID-19 Experiment’ has meant for his family

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SWEDEN: Joel Munkhammar reveals what the unorthodox ‘Swedish COVID-19 Experiment’ has meant for his family