© Johan Nilsson/TT News AgencyGarden workers fertilise lawns in Stadsparken in an attempt to prevent residents from gathering for the traditional celebrations to mark the Walpurgis Night amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Lund, Sweden April 30, 2020.
A town in southern Sweden has turned to a traditional source to try to prevent the coronavirus spreading during an annual festive event on Thursday - chicken manure.
The university town of Lund began spreading chicken droppings in its central park
to put off would-be revellers who would usually come on April 30 to celebrate Walpurgis Night.
The occasion, marking the shift away from dark, chilly winter days towards brighter spring and summer days, is typically celebrated with picnics, parties and bonfires across the country, and regularly attracts thousands of students.
"This is a park
where usually 30,000 people gather, but with COVID-19 this is now unthinkable," the town's mayor, Philip Sandberg, told Reuters. "We don't want Lund to become an epicentre for the spread of the disease."
Sweden has taken a softer approach than many other countries to preventing the spread of the respiratory disease that the coronavirus can cause, asking rather than ordering people to maintain social distancing.
Comment: Note that the changes the Deputy Minister has listed have been through the voluntary cooperation of its population. Sweden has treated its citizens like adults (what a concept!), issuing guidelines, then letting them be implemented as individuals saw fit. Most have complied with the most sensible of them. The outcome has been the same or better than countries enacting ridiculous draconian measures.