As a foreign national living in Sweden since 1978 I wholeheartedly agree with you. The Swedish authorities has been slow to react, fearful of disrupting busines

As a foreign national living in Sweden since 1978 I wholeheartedly agree with you. The Swedish authorities has been slow to react, fearful of disrupting business, generally been too lax, and has succeeded into turning this incompetence into a virtue, which large swathes of otherwise intelligent people are swallowing whole. This incompetence, together with an health care organization for the elderly in complete disarray and shambles due to under funding and rampant privatizations is granting the elderly in Sweden a death rate far beyond any comparable country. It is a mess, and it is with a sense of disbelief one observes that the state epidemiologist is allowed to continue to be in charge. There are explanations for the support however: since a lot of the criticism originally came from far-right quarters, it became a matter of political decency among all other parties to defend the state policy. In addition there is an effect that seems to take hold in crisis in almost all countries: support for perceived leaders will surge, and people will vehemently turn on any criticism. Pity the leaders in Sweden turned out to be so incompetent and that the valid criticisms have been drowned out completely.