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Comment by jaggederest | Hacker News Reader

Yes, actually. Here's an example, probably the best natural experiment we're going to see in this context. Five times more, depending on your idea of "order of magnitude".

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/europe/sweden-coronavirus-loc...

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NPR reported that 1.3 million would have died without social isolation in the US. This is 20x higher than the latest estimate. On hacker news I've seen people claim figures ranging from 1-2 million, to 3-6 million on the more extreme end.

Even if we take Sweden's case at face value this is still 1/4 the multiplier that people seem to think it is. Furthermore, Sweden is pursuing a strategy of herd immunity: let people get infected so that the populace becomes immune. They should see a higher rise in deaths, but also a faster decline as the virus runs out of viable hosts. A tall, narrow spike versus a wide, shorter curve. The area under the final curve is what we're looking for.

An order of magnitude usually means 10x, ie 140 vs 14. According to your article, Sweden has had a lower death rate than the UK, Spain, or Italy.

Ah, this is hacker news - to me, an order of magnitude means double, 2^n where N=2 and N=>4, on deaths per 100k. Those are different countries, though, with much higher population density. This is the only case where culturally and demographically similar countries pursued different courses in a way that makes them eligible for direct comparison.

One can compare it to its immediate neighbors (Finland, Denmark, Norway) and get your order of magnitude right there. Norway: 206 deaths, population a bit over 5.8 million. Finland: 199 deaths, population a bit over 5 million. Sweden: 2,355 deaths, population a bit over 10 million. I'll let you carry out the division yourself.

Comparing to its geographical and cultural neighbors helps deal with differences in city structure, public health system, trust in government, population density, etc.

You’re comparing apples to oranges here - Sweden is pursuing a narrow tall spike before getting to herd immunity, and Norway and Finland are trying for a looooong shallow curve. The area under the curve is what counts, and we won’t know those numbers for months.

Can we compare New York with its neighbors?

Compare it with equally dense neighbors, sure!

All of these European countries are more similar than different. What we see here is significant data that contradicts the conclusions in the article. In other words, it is possible that Sweden's policy is working.

The goal of the shelter in place is to “flatten the curve” so that the medical system is not overloaded. According to that article, they believed that their medical system could handle the load and has.

And if true they are just bringing them forward.

They do a good job making Sweden look bad till they mention UK, Spain, Italy. Then go on to say it's a bit more complicated.

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