You need to compare number of cancer deaths (due to non-screening), and anything else that would have been preventative and now won't be.

You need to compare psychological cost of covid with lockdown versus no lockdown (schools, workplaces, etc.).

You need to compare all of the benefits of life without a lockdown not just the costs.

My personal feeling is that Sweden was too early to lift restrictions, but now everyone else is too late.

We still haven't fully paid the cost of the lockdowns, from an economic and mental health point of view.

Here are some of the restrictions in Sweden, quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Sweden :

] The Swedish public were expected to follow a series of non-voluntary recommendations[note 2] from the Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten). These included working from home where possible, limiting travel within the country, social distancing, and for people above 70 and those with potential COVID-19 symptoms to self-isolate. ... From early 2021 amidst a surge in cases, new legislation was passed limiting visitors to venues, enacting international travel restrictions, banning nursing home visits and closing secondary schools and universities. ... Vaccine passports and other measures were introduced in December 2021.

] Alcohol sales were banned after 10pm, gatherings were limited to a maximum of eight people and some schools switched to online learning in response

] a requirement for vaccine passports for gatherings of over 500 people were introduced in December 2021

Don't know where you live, but in the US, these are considered infringements of freedom.

Whenever somebody compares US to a single Nordic country, it is all about an agenda and not to find things out.

Also: And only deaths are considered. It ignores that we did not know if there was any long term effects on people or if the hospital system would be overloaded if "If things had simply been left to run their course".

(The latter was the main consideration when Denmark closed down: not to avoid deaths, but to avoid hospitals to be overloaded)