Expert: Compulsory face masks in public is ‘very dangerous’
Sweden‘s top coronavirus expert is refusing to force people to wear face masks in public, arguing that donning them is ‘very dangerous’ because it gives the impression it is safe to be in crowded rooms or on public transport.
Anders Tegnell, chief epidemiologist at Sweden’s Public Health Agency, has expressed scepticism that face masks will control Covid-19 outbreaks.
The infectious diseases expert, who refused to follow European governments in locking down in March, also noted that countries with widespread mask compliance, such as Belgium and Spain, were still experiencing rising cases of Covid.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Dr Tegnell said: ‘It is very dangerous to believe face masks would change the game when it comes to Covid-19.
‘Face masks can be a complement to other things when other things are safely in place. But to start with having face masks and then think you can crowd your buses or your shopping malls – that’s definitely a mistake.’
Dr Tegnell previously brushed off the prospect of compelling Swedes to wear face masks, and called evidence of their effectiveness ‘astonishingly weak’.
Sweden, which has stood out among European countries for its low-key approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic, recorded its highest tally of deaths in the first half of 2020 for 150 years, the Statistics Office said on Wednesday.
Covid-19 claimed about 4,500 lives in the period to the end of June – a number which has now risen to 5,800 – a much higher percentage of the population than in other Nordic nations, though lower than in some others including Britain and Spain.
In total, 51,405 Swedes died in the January to June period, a higher number than any year since 1869 when 55,431 died, partly as a result of a famine. The population of Sweden was around 4.1 million then, compared to 10.3 million now.
Covid-19 meant that deaths were 10 percent higher than the average for the period over the last five years, the Statistics Office said. In April the number of deaths was almost 40% higher than average due to a surge in Covid-related fatalities.
Sweden has taken a different approach to most European countries in dealing with the pandemic, relying to a greater extent on voluntary measures focused on social distancing and opting against a strict lockdown.
Most schools have remained open and many businesses have been continued to operate to some extent, meaning the economy has fared better than many others.
However, the death toll has been higher than in its Nordic neighbours, which opted for tougher lockdown measures. Norway, with around half the population, has had only around 260 Covid deaths in total.
Finland’s economy outperformed its larger neighbour in the second quarter, despite a tougher lockdown. Finland’s gross domestic product shrank around 5 per cent against an 8.6 per cent contraction in Sweden from the last three-month period.
Last month Dr Tegnell’s public health agency shrugged off claims that people should wear face masks in crowded public spaces during the pandemic.
Speaking to German newspaper Bild, the coronavirus expert described ‘the belief that masks can solve our problem’ as ‘very dangerous’.
‘The findings that have been produced through face masks are astonishingly weak, even though so many people around the world wear them,’ he said.
‘I’m surprised that we don’t have more or better studies showing what effect masks actually have. Countries such as Spain and Belgium have made their populations wear masks but their infection numbers have still risen.
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Mircea
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Still some fake news about Sweden in the Daily mail article. The number or deaths between jan-june 2020 was 49569. But what really matters is the number of deaths with respect to population. In jan-june 2020, the overall mortality was 480 deaths/100.000, which is lower than it was in the same period in 2015 (496/100000) and 2017 (486/100000). This can be easily fact checked on the official swedish institutie of statistics) See: https://scontent.fotp3-3.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/118311371_1009905162794757_8984732620743242847_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=WuKP9j5_pNcAX_Kq2Gi&_nc_oc=AQkKW1P86qxHT67QI5XXfv5bgg8tngw7tRWtd-zO03NW5vL339cI9f0siRJpVl7BeViSuQAyIdFZCT4TAYShzgbT&_nc_ht=scontent.fotp3-3.fna&oh=8e03a58d2a08f181475d9f7c0fe7d4bd&oe=5F661D58
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Barry
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In other words just an average year.
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Chris
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There hasn’t been any proof that there is a virus responsible for covid 19. It is the common cold and pneumonia. The very same symptoms occur in millions every year.
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ЯΞ√ΩLUT↑☼N
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(From Australia) Exactly. A huge nonsensical panic over a mild flu that kills almost nobody, similar to the seasonal flu we never lockdown for. It’s all because they were told to do it by the Marxist UN wanting to install Socialism in the West. COVID: Certificate Of Vaccination I.D. The UN’s Agenda 21 has been launched:
The WHO initially said the “virus” isn’t transmissible through humans. Dr. Fauci says masks on healthy people is pointless. Doctors and nurses are still getting “sick” although they’re also wearing face shields, gloves, plastic clothing and walking around so stacked in PPE they look like the Michelin Man. This BS-19 PCR “testing” is only for corona antibodies, NOT for actual BS-19 meaning if you have a common cold, also a coronavirus, you’ll get locked up and they can call a lockdown any time, which is why they ramped up “testing” to create a “second wave”. Get ready for a 3rd, 4th and 5th for any “corona” test. So don’t get a sniffle or “tested”, you’ll be fked. We didn’t lockdown for SARS which allegedly has a 10% mortality rate if infected. Neither did we for pig flu, bird flu, mad cow and the seasonal flu which generally kills more than this BS-19 has. 3000 die every day from tuberculosis for which we have a vaccine, but nobody mentions that. Colds and flu spread far, wide and easily. How is it with this BS-19 we have “hotspots”? Taiwan didn’t lockdown and is leading the world in fewest “deaths”. Sweden’s not far behind:
I was at our Aussie hospital recently for a scan of my spine, and “security” Stasi at the doors were demanding all kinds of info, doing a “temp” scan (I’d already started to sweat from the 4km walk), demanding everyone wear a mask, hand sanitiser etc etc. But in the wards, I didn’t have to wear one. They don’t even believe their own BS.
https://youtu.be/NvmO-twGCgA
1918 – Spanish Flu – 50 million dead
1918 – World Population – 950 million (est)
1918 – 5.26% world’ population died!
Experts say – TRAGIC EVENT!
2018 – Seasonal Flu – 650,000 dead
2018 – World Population – 7.5 billion (est)
2018 – 0.009% world’s population died!
Experts say – TYPICAL YEAR
2020 – COVID 19 – 488,729 dead and counting
2020 – World Population – 7.7 billion (est)
2020 – 0.006% world’s population has died.
Experts say – THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END, SHUT DOWN ALL BUSINESS, CLOSE THE CHURCHES, RUIN THE WORLD’S ECONOMY!!!
FACT: 1% of the World’s Population right now would be 77 million dead.
Now, if 5.26% is TRAGIC and 0.009% is No Big Deal.. Then WTF are we doing with only 0.006%?
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Chris
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Now that is a great response
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Alan
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I don’t know anything about medicine, so how do I know who to believe? I see articles saying the virus has not be isolated, but then I read optimistic reports about a vaccine being developed when no other coronavirus has a vaccine.
The mortality rate certainly seems low, but I checked the deaths from Covid19 and they seem to be more like 800,000, but still a low rate. I puzzle why there is no mention of deaths related to seasonal flu and whether these deaths are being grouped with Covid19.
From a practical point of view, I don’t know anybody who has had the virus, or anybody who knows anybody who has, but I often hear of people having flu when it is about. I’ve lived through bad seasonal flu years but never been aware of it at the time. Never has there been a lockdown in all my years or any other control measures that I have been aware of for any of the other viruses.
I don’t believe anything the UK government or its advisers say and my life has been disrupted for no apparent reason. Why does there seem to be nobody who we can trust?
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Chris
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At least you’re observing what’s going on around you. To know who to trust begins with who will gain, the cdc admitted that they had incentivized reporting a person as positive. Look into departure from the past, such lockdowns. Use common sense. At the beginning of this they closed hospitals as part of preparing for a medical emergency. Isn’t that backwards? The list goes on. Covid 19 is a lie.
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richard
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add on – 8,414,754Communicable disease deaths so far this year and not a comment about them.
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Anthony Nedderman
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“Expert” – an expression derived from the sources “x” – an unknown quantity and “spurt” – a drip under presure.
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Anthony Nedderman
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Pressure……
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Rickk
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Excess deaths…. We have a pretty good understanding of how many die over the last 10+years… How many EXTRA have died over and above what we already know… That is what covid did, for the most part, which is NOT much more that usual
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