While Australians prepare to spend the foreseeable future in isolation, Sweden's flexible coronavirus response means people are free to go about their daily lives relatively undisturbed - if they want to.
Sweden has so far recorded more than 400 coronavirus deaths — about 10 times the number as Australia when it has just half the population — but its Government is standing by its relatively relaxed approach to the pandemic.
Rather than telling people what to do — or, worse, telling them off — the Government is asking Swedes to do the right thing, and giving them the liberty to prove they are responsible citizens. While the Government has taken some measures, such as limiting social gatherings to 50 people and closing high schools and universities, experts say it is betting on Sweden's"social obedience" — but that's a lot of trust to put in your people at a time of global pandemic, and a gamble that could have catastrophic consequences.
By his own account, Mr Magnusson, 30, is an example that the 'recommendations, not restrictions' approach can work. "I used to go to the gym three to four times a week, but I haven't been there since the pandemic ramped up," he said."I'm also cautious when out and about by keeping my distance from other people, and I haven't been out in bars since the virus started."
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