Sweden 'correct' to avoid full Covid-19 lockdown, report claims

Sweden made the correct decision by avoiding a full Covid-19 lockdown and relying on their population's common sense, a commission into the handling of the virus has claimed. 

Despite praising keeping the country open, the commission said some restrictions should have been introduced earlier.

Swedish experts said repeated lockdowns in other European countries were neither 'necessary' nor 'defensible'. 

Sweden has completed a study into the nation's handling of the Coronavirus pandemic 

The authors praised the decision to avoid implementing a full lockdown like other EU nations

According to the the report, the decision to promote 'advice and recommendations which people were expected to follow voluntarily' had been 'fundamentally correct'. 

 The authors said Swedes were able to keep more of their personal freedoms than other countries. 

According to The Telegraph, the report warns against imposing further lockdowns in response to 'a new, serious epidemic outbreak'. 

Swedish officials claimed some countries that imposed lockdowns had significantly worse outcomes than the Scandinavian country. 

Health minister Lena Hallengren said: 'The non-lockdown policy has been much-debated. I've had to answer a lot of questions during the pandemic about the "Swedish strategy".

'The fact that the commission concluded that the overall strategy, based on non-invasive recommendations... was the right choice. I think that's good.'

However the authors said restrictions should have been placed on indoor settings and the use of masks should have been encouraged at an earlier stage.