Sweden's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has now passed the 5,000 mark. According to figures released by the country's Public Health Agency, a total of 5,041 deaths linked to Covid-19 have been reported from 54,562 confirmed cases.
Sweden's death toll has far surpassed the tolls in neighbouring Nordic countries, which have all imposed more restrictive containment measures.
According to AFP's database, Sweden's virus death rate of 499 per million inhabitants is far higher than Norway's 45 per million, Denmark's 103, or Finland's 59.
However, it is still lower than that of the UK at 618 per million, Italy at 569, and Spain at 580. Critics have accused Swedish authorities of gambling with citizens' lives by not imposing strict