Swedish strategy working for Kung Flu

Analysis: While some activists escalate public panic in Tulsa over Covid-19 (China Virus or Kung Flu) a contrary experience in Sweden is gaining more support. In short, "Sweden avoided a hard lockdown. The nation of 10 million people instead opted for a strategy that sought to encourage social distancing through public information, cooperation, and individual responsibility. Restaurants, bars, public pools, libraries, and most schools remained open with certain capacity limits" the Foundation for Economic Education writes noting, "Sweden’s top epidemiologist Anders Tegnell says a massive decline in COVID-19 cases shows 'the Swedish strategy is working.'”

Tegnell said a massive decline in new COVID-19 cases shows Sweden’s “lighter touch” strategy is doing what it was designed to do. “It really is yet another sign that the Swedish strategy is working,” Tegnell said. “It is possible to slow contagion fast with the measures we are taking in Sweden.”

The FEE article continues, "How did the experts get it so wrong? There are many reasons, of course, including the fact that COVID-19 isn’t as deadly as modelers originally feared. The simplest answer, however, is that modelers overlooked a basic reality: humans spontaneously alter their behavior during pandemics.

"This should not be a surprise. Humans are intelligent, instinctive, and self-preserving creatures who will seek to avoid high-risk behavior. The natural law of spontaneous order shows that humans naturally adapt their behavior when circumstances warrant it. (In his 1988 book The Fatal Conceit, the economist F.A. Hayek described this process as “the least appreciated facet of human evolution.”)

"Scientific evidence, as it relates to the current pandemic, bears out this economic idea. Research shows that in the US, workplaces and consumers changed their travel patterns before governments began issuing stay-at-home orders. In other words, without being ordered or even instructed, tens of millions of Americans were already adapting their behavior to the unknown threat of COVID-19.

"A similar experience took place in Sweden, where foot traffic and train traffic were sharply reduced without draconian orders and penalties."

For more from the Foundation for Economic Education, click here.