Sweden records highest deaths in 150 years in first-half of 2020

Sweden, in the first half of 2020, broke a grim record of highest deaths in 150 years, according to the official statistics record.

As many as 51,405 deaths were registered in Sweden in between January and June this year, highest since 1869 when the country was hit by famine.

The country was severely criticised to not enforce a lockdown when coronavirus pandemic ravaged Europe, which led to a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.

Sweden's coronavirus death toll stands at 5,802.

A lot of COVID-19 deaths in Sweden took place in care homes, and Sweden's chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell acknowledged in June that the country's health authority "didn't know that there would be such a big potential for the disease to spread in elderly care homes, with so many deaths," reported CNN.

"There are things that we could have done better but in general I think that Sweden has chosen the right way," he had said to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter:

With an increase of 6,860, the country also saw the lowest population increase since 2005 that was less than half of what was recorded the last year.