By Larry Quick
Last of 12 parts
Illinois and the Sweden share a few things in common, not many, but a few. Perhaps the most noticeable is population size. Illinois has a population of approximately 12.5 Million residents and Sweden has a population of approximately 10.2 Million residents. Another common characteristic is that both societies possess sophisticated world-class technologies, as well as significant wealth. However, these two societies pursued different public policies in dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Swedish public health authorities weighed the costs and benefits of an Illinois-style lockdown and decided to allow businesses, schools (15 and under), government, non-profit institutions and households to remain open and free from government-mandated restrictions which limits access and activities.
Sweden did institute significant restrictions on access to nursing homes and long-term care facilities, when it became apparent that these residents were at high-risk of serious illness and death. The vast majority of Sweden’s COVID-19 associated deaths were among residents of nursing homes, long-term care and elderly residential facilities. It should be noted that Swedish health authorities did issue social-distancing guidelines for restaurants and bars, and limited public gatherings to no more than 50 individuals.
In contrast, the Illinois Department of Health and governor JB Pritzker, instituted in March 2020, an highly-complex five-phase lock down/recovery program, that has involved numerous restrictions and limitations on Illinois businesses, schools, non-profit organizations and Illinois households. Has Illinois fared any better than Sweden in to COVID-19 outcomes?
Worldometer Statistics through October 23, were as follows:
• Total COVID-19 Deaths – Sweden 5,933; Illinois 9,751; U.S. 229,819.
• Deaths/Million – Sweden 586; Illinois 770; U.S. 694.
www.worldometers.info/coronavirus
The lockdown has created unintended consequences. Dr. Scott Atlas made the following observations in a recent interview with U.K. journalist Freddie Sayers:
“In the U.S., many common cancers were not diagnosed due the shutdown. These are people who will present themselves to the hospital or their doctor with later-stage disease — many of these people will die. In the U.S., 650,000 Americans are on chemotherapy — half of them didn’t come in for their chemo because they were afraid. Two-thirds of screenings for cancer were not done; half of childhood immunizations did not get done; 85% of living organ transplants did not get done. And then we see the other harms: 200,000 cases plus child abuse in the U.S. during the two months of Spring school closures were not reported because schools are the number one agency where abuse is noticed; we have one out of four American young adults, college age, who thought of killing themselves in June….
All of these harms are massive for the working class and the lower socioeconomic groups. The people who are upper class, who can work from home, the people who can sip their latte and complain that their children are underfoot, or that they have to come up with extra money to hire a tutor privately — these are people who are not impacted by the lock downs.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpn3JxXqnp4
Many negative outcomes from the national lockdown are in Illinois, including high unemployment, budget deficits, financial instability, and mounting debt.
When considering public policy mandates, government officials must do their best to identify the negative consequences and the positive outcomes that a proposed policy may create. Once the expected benefits and costs are thoughtfully calculated, humane and rational public policy may be implemented.
• If you, or someone you know, have experienced one or more of these negative outcomes, from the Illinois lockdown, please share your story at community@thevoice.us.
This concludes the 12-part series on the Illinois COVID-19 Pandemic.