Sweden has 6.08 deaths per million inhabitants, higher than the UK, USA and Italy
Sweden has now overtaken the UK, Italy and Belgium to have the highest
coronavirus per capita death rate in the world, throwing its decision to avoid a strict lockdown into further doubt.
According to figures collated by the Our World in Data website, Sweden had 6.08 deaths per million inhabitants per day on a rolling seven-day average between May 13 and May 20.
This is the highest in the world, above the UK, Belgium and the US, which have 5.57, 4.28 and 4.11 respectively.
However, Sweden has only had the highest death rate over the past week, with Belgium, Spain, Italy, the UK and France, still ahead over the entire course of the pandemic.
FInally, for those who want to evaluate strict lockdown policies, I recommend a research paper published on medrxiv by Rickard Bengt Emanuel Nyman and Paul Ormerod, "How Many Lives Has Lockdown Saved in the UK?" which takes into consideration the health effects of the excess economic damage caused by lockdown. If all countries had followed Sweden, I think we'd all be in a better place today. I find it patronising to suggest that people are incapable of following health advice - treat people as responsible adults and they'll behave that way. Treat them as naughty children and...