States need well-functioning administrative capacities to manage complex crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the use of public administration as a perspective is not common in crisis management research. In this comparative study, the national crisis management in Sweden, Norway and Denmark during the Covid-19 pandemic are described and compared through the perspective of administrative capacities according to Lodge and Wegrich (2014). To understand the identified similarities and differences in the three countries’ strategies the study looks at administrative traditions. Through the analysis of the countries’ crisis management, the study also examines whether the pandemic can be understood as a wicked problem as defined by Rittel (1973). The study concludes that the initial differences in how rigorous measures were taken, gradually tapered off as the countries progressed to strategies and measures adapted to the current spread of infection. The study also shows that administrative traditions influenced the differences in crisis management as Sweden with its dualism let public authorities and experts lead the way in measures and strategies while Norway and Denmark acted on political principles. Finally, the study finds results supporting the pandemics’ wicked nature and concludes it can be understood as a wicked problem.