* Thank you for the note, sonu.

Dear Reader:

There will be lots of numbers in the following, many of these numbers are taken from worldometers, and from worldpopulationreview. com. For anyone who tends to get dizzy when exposed to many numbers, this is a warning!

The population density in the USA is 35 people per square kilometer. New York City (NYC) is the most densely populated city in the United States. According to 2018 numbers (Wikipedia), with over 8 million people, its population density is about 10,713 people per square kilometer. NYC is the reason why 34% of all US Covid-19 cases and 42% of all US Covid-19 deaths are in the state of New York.

The population density in Italy is 206 people per square km, 2,029 in Milan in the north, 2,263 in the most populated Rome. The population density in Spain is 91, and 779 in Madrid, the most populated city in Spain.

Let’s look at the Scandinavian countries: of the four, Denmark is the most densely populated: 134 people per square kilometer, 6 times more than Sweden (22 people per square km), almost 8 times more than Norway (17 people per square km), and more than 8 times than that of Finland (16 people per square km).

Oslo (Norway), has the population density of 1,400 people per square km, and part of Oslo (the Urban municipality) has the population density of 3,300 people per square km. Stockholm is the most populated city in Sweden with a population density of 4,800 people per square km. The most populated city in Finland is Helsinki with a population density of 3,050 people per square km, with a 16,494 people per square km in the inner city.

Most of the Covid-19 cases are in Sweden, almost 11,000 cases, next is Norway, just over 6,500, next  is Denmark, just over 6,300, and last is Finland with just over 3,000.

In Sweden the current number of deaths is 919:  91 deaths per one million (M) population.  Denmark: 285 deaths, 49 deaths per M, Norway: 133 deaths, 25 deaths per M, Finland: 59 deaths, 11 deaths per M,

Globally, 95% of the active cases are in mild condition and 5% of the cases are in a serious or critical condition. This 95%- 5% ratio has been consistent for the longest time. In Sweden, 91% are in mild condition, and 9% are in a serious or critical condition.

Leaving the Scandinavian countries for a moment, the USA, leading the world in numbers of cases and deaths, there are currently 22,115 deaths, 67 deaths per M. Spain: 17,489 deaths, 374 deaths per M. Italy: 19,899 deaths, 329 deaths per M.

My comment: there is a disproportionate number of Covid-19 deaths in Sweden: roughly 8 times that of Finland, 4 times that of Norway, and twice that of Denmark (even though Denmark is 6 times more populated than Sweden).

Going outside Scandinavia, Sweden has more deaths per M than the USA (91 compared to 67), but less than that of Spain and Italy (91 compared to 374 and 329 respectively).

Sweden is very different from Italy and Spain: 40% of Swedish households are single-person households without children, and 23% of households are of cohabitating or married couples living without children. On the other hand, Spain and Italy are known for their high rate of multi-generational families, all living together. In Spain, over half of people  between the ages of 25 and 29 are still living with their parents. In Italy, about 67% of 18-34 year old Italians live with their parents.

-it is a sort of a high population density within the home, which includes the aging, which are way more vulnerable to Covid-19 than the young.

Taken all the above into account, what is working for Sweden’s advantage is the overall low population density and rarity of multi-generational households (a sort of low population density outside and inside homes): the Daily New Cases in Sweden, worldometers, shows a decline in new cases since April 9, four days ago.

Sweden’s lax attitude toward the pandemic (having issued minimal restrictions on people’s movements, no lockdowns, and their herd immunity attitude), seems to correspond with more severe symptoms in  those infected and in more deaths.

It remains to be seen if Sweden’s new daily cases continues to decline (the flattening of the curve), and whether the significantly high number of deaths continue to rise.

anita