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Johns Hopkins University published a new study indicating that there was little or no benefit of lockdowns in preventing COVID-19 mortality during the pandemic. The meta-analysis highlights that social lockdown in Europe and the United States during the spring of 2020 only reduced COVID-19 mortality by 3.2%.
“Our results are also supported by the natural experiments we have been able to identify.
The results of our meta-analysis support the conclusion that lockdowns in the spring of 2020 had
little to no effect on COVID-19 mortality,” explains the study’s introduction.
Although the university highlights that social distancing worked to prevent transmission of the virus, it indicates that mandatory lockdowns were not necessary to drive measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Another meta-analysis on blockades
The results are consistent with others published by the university in February of this year. At that time, the analysis explained that the confinements would have reduced deaths from the virus by only 0.2% during the first wave of coronavirus in Europe and the United States.
According to El American, the study detailed that limiting outings and gatherings could have influenced the increase in mortality from the disease. “Limitations can isolate an infected person at home with his or her family, where he or she risks infecting family members with a higher viral load, leading to more severe disease.”
He further revealed that the closures had other consequences that affected citizens directly. For example, an increase in unemployment, reduced schooling, increased incidents of domestic violence and increased drug overdoses.
