Sweden’s top epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has stirred controversy by arguing that the case for using face masks as a protection against Covid-19 is very weak.
He has argued that it is dangerous for people to think that they are protected just because they wear a mask.
Tegnell’s viewpoint on the efficacy of using face masks have been well-known. It is one of the reasons why Sweden was essentially the only country that experimented with the concept of herd immunity – that if enough people catch and survive the virus, it would not pose any threat.
As the country’s top medical expert, Tegnell’s arguments carry great weight in the Swedish government. Because of their experiences and role in government, Tegnell is often likened to Dr. Anthony Fauci in the US.
Unlike Fauci, Tegnell has always remained a skeptic when it came to how useful masks can be. He pointed to Belgium and Spain as two examples in which diligently wearing a mask did little to spread mass infections. Tegnell did not mention the more successful cases in Asia.
The Swedish expert did not completely reject what masks can do. At the same time, he emphasized that masks are only useful as a complement to other measures such as practicing social distancing.
Tegnell’s argument has been that masks have very limited utility when the person wearing the mask is in a crowded space such as a shopping mall. Last month, he brushed off the further need for masks in Sweden because the numbers were declining.
He went so far as to argue that he no longer saw a need for Swedes to wear masks, even in public spaces such as public transportation. In an interview with the British media, he lamented how the evidence for masks is very weak and the scarcity of studies was shocking.
Empirically speaking, the Swedish efforts the global pandemic has been largely panned as a terrible example. After refusing to place the country in lockdown, more Swedes died compared to their neighbors in terms of per capita.
Despite their global reputation as one of the best countries to live in, more than 85,000 Swedes have contracted the virus. Among them, more than 5,800 have passed away.
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Replaced!