Even when the outbreak remains small and relatively contained, the social impact of a coronavirus pandemic is toxic.
In Sweden the overall figures remain relatively low, but the highest incidence of the disease is occurring in the country’s Somalian community.
The Nordic nation has attracted attention for adopting a very 'culturally Swedish' response to the pandemic.
Assumptions have been made that Sweden's national characteristics can mitigate against the virus spread.
The gamble that Sweden is taking is that it can insulate itself against future waves of infection
According to statistics, more than half of the Swedish population live on their own at home.
The Somali community, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, however, has a very different demographic profile.
This population is highly concentrated in Stockholm. Households tend to multi-generational – a product of the immigrant experience, but not typical in Sweden.
Far-right extremists naturally used the statistics to attack Somali victims. The country’s broadcasting authority has been spurred by the backlash, increasing minority-language messaging to get across official advice on coping with the health threat.
What should be under pressure is the unique approach the country is taking to fighting Covid-19. It has not ordered the home isolation, partial quarantine or curfews common elsewhere after infection rates soar and healthcare systems come under pressure.
Medical and scientific advice in Sweden still holds that the pandemic can be managed within society. These are the cues that guide government in Stockholm.
But scepticism that one country can stand alone grows by the day.
The situation within the Somali community flashes red to wider Swedish society, and yet there is no sign the official consensus is crumbling. If Somalis are a microcosm of where the outbreak is heading then the authorities are gambling with people’s lives.
Data tracking of movement in Sweden’s big cities shows a 75 per cent drop in traffic in recent weeks. Figures in other countries under blanket lockdowns can reach 95 per cent. Even the much-criticised British lockdown has resulted in an 85 per cent drop in movement since mid-March, according to Google data.
Swedes are advised to stay two metres apart, but not required to forsake their lifestyles. The elderly cannot go out and gatherings of more than 50 are banned. While that means the Swedish football league is suspended, it doesn’t mean that countering the virus threat has been made part of normal life.
Instead, as spring brings an end to the long dark nights, Swedes are filling cafes and the leisure spots where the cherry blossom trees are an annual treat.
Covid-19 is a disease of the human condition and is ravaging some of the densely populated parts of Europe. In those places there is a widespread consensus that society as a whole will not tolerate the levels of death that the disease threatens.
Sweden has long had a culture of rational arguments playing an out-sized role in public life. Even so, a point must come that the alarm raises among the public and overrides faith in the methodology of the bureaucrats. The spike in deaths to 333 on Friday, up 51 on the day, from 6,078 cases was a big lurch higher.
Anders Tegnell, the medic behind the Swedish strategy, has said he does not believe there is a “real connection” between lockdowns and closing borders and slowing down the infection rate. But he also added that the period of isolation was a one-time shot. “You can’t lock up people forever,” he said.
The scientific models used by other countries were only as good, he said, as the numbers inputed by the epidemiologists.
The gamble that Sweden is taking is that it can insulate itself against future waves of infection. By focusing on the need to get over the longer-term impact, the Swedes hope to preserve high constant levels of economic and social activity through diminishing waves of the virus.
Many in Sweden look at the sharp stop in other parts of the world as economic suicide. Elsewhere, economic indices dive and unemployment rates spike beyond any precedent and Swedes still hope they won’t have to make the same sacrifices.
The initial impact of coronavirus cannot be denied, but it can be mitigated. Studies of the 1918-20 Spanish flu have shown how the American cities that locked down hardest bounced back best.
Governments have become the buyers of last resort to sustain businesses and livelihoods. Sweden is well placed to buffer the shocks thrown up against developed economies but remains in denial.
The point of making the commitment is that it is total and immediate, but temporary. German economists have said the manufacturing base can survive an eight-week lockdown, but not staggered disruption.
Sweden is out of step, and its failure to embrace the single lesson of the crisis doesn’t protect its own people. It exposes the country’s Somali community as the first line of a calamity that will be much worse than it needed to have been.
Damien McElroy is the London bureau chief of The National
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
BRIEF SCORES
England 353 and 313-8 dec
(B Stokes 112, A Cook 88; M Morkel 3-70, K Rabada 3-85)
(J Bairstow 63, T Westley 59, J Root 50; K Maharaj 3-50)
South Africa 175 and 252
(T Bavuma 52; T Roland-Jones 5-57, J Anderson 3-25)
(D Elgar 136; M Ali 4-45, T Roland-Jones 3-72)
Result: England won by 239 runs
England lead four-match series 2-1
Results
2pm: Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,200m, Winner: Mouheeb, Tom Marquand (jockey), Nicholas Bachalard (trainer)
2.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Honourable Justice, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Dahawi, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
3.30pm: Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Dark Silver, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
4pm: Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Dark Of Night. Antonio Fresu, Al Muhairi.
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Habah, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA
Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECVT%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E119bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E145Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh%2C89%2C900%20(%2424%2C230)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20will%20host%20Scotland%20for%20a%20three-match%20T20I%20series%20at%20the%20Dubai%20International%20Stadium%20next%20month.%3Cbr%3EThe%20two%20sides%20will%20start%20their%20Cricket%20World%20Cup%20League%202%20campaigns%20with%20a%20tri-series%20also%20involving%20Canada%2C%20starting%20on%20January%2029.%3Cbr%3EThat%20series%20will%20be%20followed%20by%20a%20bilateral%20T20%20series%20on%20March%2011%2C%2013%20and%2014.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
