My takeaway from the NYT article[0] was that Sweden's approach to coronavirus hasn't left them totally overwhelmed primarily because Swedes willingly self-lockdowned and distanced almost as much as people under government-mandated lockdowns. So while some like to point to them and say "see, we could've stayed totally open," the reality is that they did lockdown but it came as a decentralized decision rather than a centralized order. Because they did effectively lockdown, their economy is expected to be impacted similarly to the rest of Europe[1]. Is my interpretation incorrect?
[1] "Preliminary evidence shows Sweden has suffered similar economic effects as its neighbors: The Swedish Central Bank projects the country’s G.D.P. will contract by 7 to 10 percent this year, an estimate on par with the rest of Europe. (The European Commission projects the E.U. economy will contract by 7.5 percent.)" (Ref [0])
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/15/world/europe/...
[1] "Preliminary evidence shows Sweden has suffered similar economic effects as its neighbors: The Swedish Central Bank projects the country’s G.D.P. will contract by 7 to 10 percent this year, an estimate on par with the rest of Europe. (The European Commission projects the E.U. economy will contract by 7.5 percent.)" (Ref [0])