Unlike its European neighbours Sweden has not opted for a strict COVID lockdown: and although all public gatherings of more than 50 people are banned and people are largely encouraged to stay home, restaurants and bars are open and children are still attending schools. Swedish academics have weighed up the pros and the cons of Stockholm's model.

Despite opting for flexible quarantine measures Sweden has been trailing far behind Spain, Italy and the UK in terms of confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths with just 23,216 infected and 2,854 fatalities. However, at the same time, the Nordic country has substantially outpaced its neighbours, Denmark, Norway and Finland which account for 503, 214 and 246 fatalities, respectively. Whether or not Stockholm's health strategy has worked will be seen in coming months, say Swedish observers.