"as compared to a COVID-19 policy based solely on recommendations" - what is this comparator? Sweden? I do not think that it is possible to derive much out of

"as compared to a COVID-19 policy based solely on recommendations" - what is this comparator? Sweden? I do not think that it is possible to derive much out of just simple comparisons without taking into account cultural differences. Have a look at this https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&facet=none&uniformYAxis=0&pickerSort=asc&pickerMetric=location&Metric=Confirmed+deaths&Interval=Cumulative&Relative+to+Population=true&Color+by+test+positivity=false&country=AUT~SWE~NOR~FIN https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explor... If you just put these 4 countries into your data, you will get a lot of confusion. Just calculating numbers will not answer this question. But this study will be definitely used to make unsubstantiated policy decisions.