Interesting. It’s a mixed bag, but Sweden got similar death rates to the European average (although higher than its Scandinavian neighbors), with less stress about strict restrictions. Also, deaths in elder facilities seem to have skewed death tolls up, which is a very specific portion of the policy.
Maybe just giving general common sense advice and let people figure things out worked? “Preferably stay apart from others, and eh don’t trust masks to be magic; staying apart is the real failproof measure. But if you sometimes want meet up with people, that’s okay but be safe.. and if you *have* to stay with people, okay then wear masks”
It’s possible that policies too strict just caused sectors of the population to revolt and go crazy and make things worse. Also, allowing for occasional, safer gathering for mental sanity could have helped – some health issues for some people seem related to the isolation and not to coronavirus per se.
