Sweden and New Jersey are about the same size population wise, Sweden has 10 million people, New Jersey has about 9.2 million. For both, the foreign born population is about 20 percent. When the coronavirus pandemic hit they took quite different action at the same time:
New Jersey went into full lockdown with a near complete halt to the economy.
Sweden issued social distancing, crowds and travel restrictions, and hygiene regulations, but kept businesses and restaurants open within limits.
Yer their death rates followed the same bell curve as the disease marched on
Yet, there was one big difference, the deaths from the corona virus was three times larger in New Jersey than in Sweden, the total cases was five times larger.
It is always touted that we need more testing, New Jersey has made 451,696 tests, Sweden only 177,500. More testing will find more mild and asymptomatic cases, but the deaths will be the same.
The solution is to let the young and healthy develop herd immunity, but protect the vulnerable, such as the old, obese, diabetic, people with hypertension, weak hearts or a compromised immune system.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 