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| - Sweden's unique approach to the new coronavirus has drawn international attention and some criticism after it decided not to go for a lockdown as the virus began to spread. Here are three things to know about the Swedish strategy, as the country reported a total of 5,041 deaths on Wednesday. The Swedish government has allowed the Public Health Agency to take the lead in setting strategy from the start of the pandemic. This has prompted some raised eyebrows, especially abroad, but also in the country. The government's total and utter confidence in its experts dates back to the 18th century, when public agencies were given an independence now written into the constitution. As a result, a government minister is not allowed to intervene in decisions taken by agencies in their field of expertise, in order to ensure that decisions are knowledge-based and not for political gain. While the Public Health Agency's recommendations to the government are just that -- recommendations -- the government has consistently chosen to follow the experts' advice. While Sweden never imposed a lockdown, authorities urged Swedes to take responsibility themselves and follow social distancing and hygiene guidelines, and stay home at the first sign of symptoms. Those in risk groups and over the age of 70 were told to stay home. Among the stricter measures are a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people, and a ban on visits to elderly care homes. The government continues to defend Sweden's strategy, insisting that lockdowns only work temporarily whereas its measures are sustainable for the long term. It has reiterated regularly that the fight against the virus is "a marathon, not a sprint". Sweden has maintained from the start that the virus will be around for a long time, and stressed that as long as risk groups are protected and the virus circulates slowly, hospitals will be able to keep pace. State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell of the Public Health Agency has insisted that stricter measures would not have saved more lives. The country however has one of the highest death tolls, with 499.1 deaths per million, behind only Belgium, the UK, Spain and Italy. The country's death toll is more than five times higher than in neighbouring Denmark, and 11 times that of Norway, both of which introduced much stricter measures. Tegnell has however insisted that data should be compared with caution, noting that countries may record cases differently, can be in earlier or later phases of the pandemic, and varying sociological factors may affect how heavily the pandemic hits. hdy/po/bmm
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