1/6 Denmark had almost 20x as many Covid-19 deaths as Slovakia and many more than Greece and Croatia. Does that mean Denmark was a disaster at managing the pandemic? Of course not.

2/6 The above graph is cherry picked in the sense that it compares Denmark to some countries with the lowest mortality rates. But it is also cherry picking to compare Sweden only to its next-door neighbours and ignore other frames of reference, as in this common graph.

3/6 There is no scientific case for arguing that we can draw conclusions about pandemic management by comparing Sweden to Denmark but not Denmark to Slovakia.

4/6 Moreover, Sweden had less mortality than several US states and European countries that locked down. If the theory supporting lockdown is true, Sweden should not be ranked this low on comparative mortality charts.

5/6 In the last analysis, the important question to ask about Sweden is not whether it has more Covid-19 deaths than its near neighbours but whether Covid-19 has caused significant levels of excess mortality. It has not.

6/6 Sweden's all-cause mortality this year is broadly in line with prior years, and is lower than average for the under-65 age group. Charts by @HaraldofW