As I walk around Stockholm, there is little sign that the Swedish capital was one of the worst-hit cities in Europe in an ongoing pandemic: restaurant tables are spaced a little further apart, and visiting the Royal Palace is an unusually relaxing experience in the absence of foreign tourists. There are markings on the floor at supermarket checkouts, and perspex screens in some taxis, but otherwise life continues as normal.
Masks are notably absent. Sweden’s unflappable chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has said he is unconvinced by the evidence for masks and is not even recommending them, let alone urging legislation to make them compulsory. Instead, he says, Swedes should avoid situations where they get too close to other people.
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