One of the proper ways to compare excess deaths between nations is by percentage excess. Raw counts of weekly excess death mean little to nothing in comparisons because of how different any two nations can be in population size, natural death rate, etc.
Sweden bucked the system and used a mostly “hands-off” approach to COVID, not implementing any strict lockdowns, mask mandates, or COVID jab mandates. The results speak for themselves when comparing Sweden to one of the worst flu outcomes in Europe in 2018: The Netherlands.
The average weekly flu-associated excess death in the Netherlands in 2018 was 6.2%. In the 88 weeks showing, Sweden only had worse weekly excess death in 12 of those 88 weeks.
But let’s compare Sweden’s results with results from a nation which has had relatively strict COVID mandates: the USA.
In only 4 of 90 weeks in the graph above did the USA meet the excess death standard set by the Netherlands in 2018. Ninety weeks of evidence is “enough” evidence to make a determination.
The evidence is in:
Strict COVID mandates cost lives (and should NOT be implemented by governments)
Reference
[average weekly excess death in Netherlands in 2018 was 6.2%] — van Asten L, Harmsen CN, Stoeldraijer L, Klinkenberg D, Teirlinck AC, de Lange MMA, Meijer A, van de Kassteele J, van Gageldonk-Lafeber AB, van den Hof S, van der Hoek W. Excess Deaths during Influenza and Coronavirus Disease and Infection-Fatality Rate for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, the Netherlands. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Feb;27(2):411-420. doi: 10.3201/eid2702.202999. Epub 2021 Jan 4. PMID: 33395381; PMCID: PMC7853586. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7853586/