No, you aren't
"merely trying to keep the subject factual", but if you do so, we can go on.
And never say that we don't know anything when we actually do. It's one of the favourite arguments of the superstitious: 'Science doesn't know everything. It has been wrong before, and maybe some day it will prove that astrology was right the whole time.'
In particular in the current situation, it is important to distinguish between actual knowledge, assumptions, and pig-headedness pretending to be backed up by science: Tegnell or Trump, for instance.
When I (or even Gavin) quote the number of cases in Sweden and elsewhere, it is something we
know, but it is very important to stress what the number of cases
means, i.e. the number of people who have been
tested positive, and not the number of people who have actually been infected, i.e. the number of people
tested positive for the virus + the dark number. The existence of the dark number again is something that we
know. We just don't know how big it is, but we can make assumptions based on the percentage of people who have the virus when we make random tests, and the similar percentage of people who turn out to have been infected when we test for antibodies.
So as always, we should be aware of what we
know, what we have
good reason to assume, and what we don't know at all. There is very little of the latter in the case of the coronavirus at this point.
And this is something that you should pay attention to since manipulators like Tegnell and Giesecke use people's general inability to distinguish between these differences to trick them:
Tegnell: ”Ska man ha munskydd ska det baseras på vetenskap” Fyra av tio är för munskydd (Aftonbladet.se, Aug. 11, 2020)
Tegnell: "If we are to wear face masks, it should be based on science" - Four of ten (Swedes) are in favor of face masks
Tegnell has no reason whatsoever to imagine that face masks
don't work. He now feels threatened because people no longer trust and obey him blindly; they've been ignorant, but they are not all idiots, and they can see what is going on in the rest of the world and compare to Sweden. With his pig-headed pride and arrogance, he has been the cause of thousands of deaths throughout this pandemic, and unlike Trump he won't simply disappear, like magic, in November.
His appeal to (alleged)
science is nothing but an appeal to himself as a false authority.
It is reason for optimism that people in Sweden are beginning to wake up and realize this:
Även denna tisdag skriker coronademonstranterna åt Tegnell: ”Tänker stå här tills politiker och tjänstemän tar sitt förnuft till fånga och bestämmer att vi alla ska bära munskydd när vi rör oss bland andra” (Aftonbladet.se, Aug. 11, 2020)
Even this Tuesday, corona protesters are screaming at Tegnell: "We intend to stay here until politicians and civil servants come to their senses and decree that we should all wear face masks when we are among other people
The media are informing their readers about face masks:
Guide: Allt du behöver veta om munskydd (Aftonbladet)
Guide: Everything you need to know about face masks
And the protesters are not alone:
Lars Calmfors and Göran K Hansson: What we need now is a turnaround where effective measures are put in place to protect the population.
Covid-19 has meant a national disaster for Sweden. Slow and insufficient action has probably contributed to this. And doctors have experienced that
the Public Health Agency does not reconsider when new information appears.
"Don't let prestige prevent a reconsideration of the corona strategy"
But with Tegnell in charge, there is reason to believe that reconsideration based on new facts and knowledge will be impossible. Again much like Trump, he isn't very good at handling any kind of change. He considers it to be a strength that he remains steadfast in his promotion of a failed strategy, and he hates it when other countries actually learn something new and adapt their pandemic response to the new facts:
Tegnell: ”Förvirrande när länder ändrar regler fram och tillbaka (DagensNyheter.se, Aug. 11, 2020)
Tegnell: "It's confusing when countries change their rules and regulations back and forth."
No, Tegnell, you poor thing! It's confusing when you present the useless Swedish number of cases to argue that other countries should open up their borders to your compatriots. That they change their policies when they discover that the spread of infection in Sweden is higher than they thought is not confusing at all. It's inconvenient for your attempt to present the Swedish strategy as successful, that's all it is.
