Covid 19 coronavirus: Swedish expert says NZ faces years of quarantine for arrivals
Sweden's former top virus expert says lockdowns are just a way of delaying the inevitable and warns that New Zealand could face years of quarantining foreigners entering the country, even after wiping out Covid-19.
Johan Giesecke has defended his country's coronavirus strategy, saying lockdowns do not prevent surges in cases or deaths, but merely delay them.
Giesecke believes it is "futile" to attempt to stop the spread and says most countries will end up in a similar position, regardless of their strategy, until treatment can be found.
He believes Denmark, Norway and Finland, which are in full lockdown, will end up with the same number of cases as Sweden, which isn't, as soon as their restrictions ease.
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He also says New Zealand will begin importing cases from overseas, after successfully suppressing the virus during lockdown.
To avoid that, quarantine measures will have to stay in place until a vaccine is developed - something he says could take a decade, or longer.
Giesecke spoke out to Swedish media after the country's current top virus expert, Anders Tegnell, refused to recommend a lockdown, as deaths and case numbers continue to soar.
Sweden has more than 25,000 cases of Covid-19 and more than 3170 people have died.
Meanwhile, Norway has 8034 cases and 217 deaths.
