
So many people in Sweden have been exposed to the coronavirus that the country will likely be in a better place to withstand a second wave of infections, said state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.
Sweden has taken a relatively relaxed approach to coronavirus-related restrictions when compared with other European countries.
"It has worked in some aspects," Tegnell told BBC radio. "It has worked because our health system has been able to cope. There has always been at least 20% of the intensive care beds empty and able to take care of Covid-19 patients."
Tegnell estimated an immunity level of between 15% to 20% had been reached in the Stockholm population, which he said would "slow down the spread (of a second wave)."
But he cautioned that it wouldn't be enough to achieve herd immunity, and that there's still a lot unknown about immunity to the disease.
Sweden has reported 16,755 cases of the coronavirus, including 2,021 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Asked whether the death toll would have been lower if Sweden had implemented tighter restrictions, Tegnell replied, "that’s a very difficult question to answer at this stage. At least 50% of our death toll is within the elderly homes and we have a hard time understanding how a lockdown would stop the introduction of the disease into the elderly homes."