‘We have failed’: Sweden’s king criticises country’s coronavirus strategy amid rising deaths

Admission comes as government begins to impose tougher lockdown rules

(EPA)

Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf has said the country has failed in its handling of the Covid pandemic.  

The king, who rarely intervenes on political issues, said during a Christmas national broadcast the nation had seen too many of its citizens die.  

“I think we have failed,” he said in a pre-recorded interview due to be broadcast on 21 December. “We have a large number who have died and that is terrible.

"It is something we all suffer with."

Unlike most of its European neighbours, Sweden has pursued a more hands-off approach to combating coronavirus since March, with no full national lockdowns or compulsory mask-wearing.  

Most schools, shops and businesses have stayed open, relying on voluntary social distancing and people choosing to work from home and avoid public transport where they can.  

But Carl XVI Gustaf said Sweden had suffered too high a toll, particularly among the elderly and those in care homes.  

“You think of all the family members who have not been able to say goodbye to their deceased family members," the monarch said. 

"I think it is a heavy and traumatic experience not to be able to say a warm goodbye.

"The Swedish people have suffered enormously in difficult conditions. Lately, it has felt more obvious, it has crept closer and closer. That's not what you want."

Sweden has been at times upheld by those sceptical of lockdowns as an example of a better approach, but its death toll has been vastly higher than its Nordic neighbours.  

A total of 7,893 people have died in Sweden from coronavirus, a rate of about 770 people per million of population in Sweden, compared with just 75 people per million in Norway and 170 people per million in Denmark.  

However, Sweden has been more successful in protecting its citizens than some larger Western European nations, including Britain which has lost 983 people to Covid per million of population.  

The Swedish public health agency announced it had registered 8,881 new Covid cases on Tuesday, a record high.

Although the public was initially supportive of the government’s handling of the pandemic earlier this year, anger at the rising death toll has grown.  

An independent review of Sweden’s pandemic strategy was published on Tuesday and outlined major problems with how social care for the elderly was organised. It also concluded the authorities were unprepared to deal with the pandemic.  

Despite hopes the more lax approach in the spring would limit the impact of any second wave (by creating some herd immunity), Sweden has been hit hard by a resurgence of Covid in the autumn.  

And as the case numbers and deaths have continued to rise, the authorities have begun imposing tougher rules, including a ban on gatherings of more than eight people and prohibiting the sale of alcohol after 10pm in bars and restaurants.  

Carl XVI Gustaf has seen the impact of Covid in his own family too, with his son Prince Carl Philip – who is fifth in line to the throne – and his wife Princess Sofia both forced to self-isolate after they tested positive with mild symptoms.