COVID-19 claimed about 4,500 lives in the period to the end of June - a number which has now risen to 5,800 - a much higher percentage of the population than in other Nordic nations, though lower than in some others including Britain and Spain.
Comment: Which had severe lockdowns. There's one thing we can conclude for sure about the lockdowns: they had no effect on slowing the spread of Covid. In fact, it looks like they mostly had the effect of making things worse. Just look at Peru.
In total, 51,405 Swedes died in the January to June period, a higher number than any year since 1869 when 55,431 died, partly as a result of a famine. The population of Sweden was around 4.1 million then, compared to 10.3 million now.
Comment: In other words, put in perspective, the famine was much worse, resulting in the deaths of 1.4% of the population, compared to 0.5% of the population in 2020.
COVID-19 meant that deaths were some 10 percent higher than the average for the period over the last five years, the Statistics Office said. In April the number of deaths was almost 40% higher than average due to a surge in COVID-related fatalities.
Comment: In other words, 10% higher than your average flu season. Nothing to freak out over.
Sweden has taken a different approach to most European countries in dealing with the pandemic, relying to a greater extent on voluntary measures focused on social distancing and opting against a strict lockdown.
Comment: For insight into the real machinations driving the situation in Belarus, see: Belarus 'revolution' is imperialists running the same tired old script, day after day