King of Sweden says country 'failed' on Covid response

The king of Sweden said his country's handling of the coronavirus pandemic had been a failure and had sharp criticism for a pandemic policy partly blamed for a high death toll among elderly people.

Carl XVI Gustaf used an annual royal Christmas television address to highlight the growing impact of the virus as hospitals in the Stockholm region warned they were struggling to cope with a surge in cases and polls showed public confidence in the authorities had plunged.

The Guardian YouTube network:

[flagflow]

A ruler who's brave enough to admit his government's failures. That is a rare thing these days.

[jcBurton]

Someone must say it. The King said it.

[waronlinereview]

the question the king of sweden where asked: "We have all lived under this enormous pressure for a long time now, we are afraid of losing a relative, becoming infected ourselves, losing our job or the risk of healthcare collapsing. You can make the list long. What stresses the king the most with all this? ”

[MarigoldSundays]

When are we going to stop this childish belief that we can conquer death?

[Supermariocrosser]

Sweden might be liberal, but it's national identity is still about politeness reason and modesty. Unlike many of its neighbours. It's not socially accepted to stick out of the crowd on social status and optimism is not that celebrated. So the king is really careful.

[TheMalasa]

That is not true. Swedish king said that swedish strategy on senior citizen facilities failed, not overall covid strategy. This is misinterpretation done by american media. And done deliberately. Not the very first time BTW.

[Afghan]

I would rather live under a constitutional monarchy than a hollowed-out republic.

[statsvarket]

Our King said what everybody here in Sweden thinks. In March and April lot's of elderly people died. In November and December lot's of older people dies too. What Swedish people want's to know is why the Government didn't learn anything. They had six months to come up with a better strategy !
The Swedish strategy seems to be: "Wait and see what happens" ! and when it happens they have press conference saying: "Ohhh, we didn't see what happened"
The Swedish Socialist Government is known for NOT being proactive ! I wonder how many more people that's going to die this time ?

[Obez]

I guess the "look at the way Sweden is dealing it" argument won't slide anymore...

[норанора-ио]

the situation is extraordinary and it is quite a challenge for all governments. in any case they will be blamed because they are trying to do something. it is very difficult to take decisions in situation like this. nobody knows which is better way. we can only pray that it will finish soon.

[summerjunk]

Did Bill & Melinda slip him a few krona?! 🤣🤣

[delft]

Is he afraid for his own life? So many healthy people have lost their savings, their ability to generate revenue, to provide for their families. Sacrificed their emotional and physical wellbeing at the request of those with stable income and job security. So easy to buy free trade chocolate, or free range eggs but heartlessly condemn your fellow citizens to ruin so that you feel there is a barrier to protect you from your fear.

[jeremiahhosea]

8, 000 people have died in a Country of 10.23 million. They avoided the even more devastating consequences of lockdown -- not particularly a failure. Especially compared to here in the U.S. where over 40 million homes are facing eviction, 27 million homes are facing foreclosure, 80% of small and medium sized businesses will be whipped off the map and people are being ushered into poverty and despair.

[kasparsbroks]

And how many people have died from cancer this year ?

[JoshuaTreePark]

Even the King knows his country is failing at the lockdown thing.

[neilwheel]

A 77th Brigade Production. Includes Paid Promotion.

[Peralta]

Swedish people relax and enjoy your freedom. You guys are doing just fine. Don't let your paid off king tell you otherwise.

[DarthKieduss]

A wise king admits to the faults of his own government.

[hurmur]

His presssecretary said that he did not mean it as a criticism over strategy or anything else. Our king says stuff all the time that if we say may not come out as he want it to.

[mike]

many people have died everywhere almost!! the real failure is if you have lots restrictions that added more pain AND still ended up worse than sweden, that is a real failure!!