In late November, the Swedish government finally caved. The country had attracted attention worldwide earlier this year for ignoring calls to implement a lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first peak, as the government favored recommendations to hard regulation. But at long last, facing a perilous second wave of coronavirus cases, the Swedish government introduced its very first commercial ban: Bars and restaurants would close after 10:30 p.m.
After watching Sweden with confusion—and sometimes horror—many onlookers from abroad saw the move as the final verdict on whether governments should implement bans or just recommendations as the pandemic rages on. Even Swedes, they thought, were finally being told what to do. Admittedly, foreigners’ disdain for the country’s approach hasn’t been unwarranted: My fellow Swedes have been ignoring the government’s loose guidelines this whole time. Without bans, they’re still huddling together in malls and sitting knee to knee in bars (now before 10:30 p.m.) as the death toll has risen to nearly 8,000 in a nation of 10 million—a figure higher than that of all its neighboring countries combined.
