‘Global Policy Failure’: Lockdowns Had ‘Negligible’ Impact on Deaths Compared to ‘Staggering Collateral Costs’, Study Finds
by Kurt Zindulka
The imposition of lockdowns by governments around the world during the Chinese coronavirus crisis was “a global policy failure of gigantic proportions” that had a “negligible” impact on loss of life compared to the steep costs on society, a landmark study has found.
A peer-reviewed study published by the Institute for Economic Affairs from researchers, including economics Professor Steve H. Hanke of Johns Hopkins University, has found that countries that locked down their citizens faired little better than countries such as Sweden, which imposed relatively few restrictions in favour of allowing its citizens to exercise their own caution.
The Herby-Jonung-Hanke review, which conducted a meta-analysis of 19,646 studies on lockdowns from countries around the world, found that lockdowns, defined as any non-pharmaceutical intervention, managed to reduce mortality by 3.2 per cent in comparison to countries that adopted a more laissez-faire approach during the first lockdowns in the Spring of 2020.
According to the study, this means that the initial lockdowns prevented 1,700 deaths in England and Wales, 6,000 deaths throughout Europe, and 4,000 deaths in the United States. The authors noted that the number of deaths prevented by restrictions paled in comparison to the number of deaths experienced during a typical flu season.
The study found that stay-at-home orders in Europe and the U.S. only reduced mortality rates by 1.4 and 4.1 per cent, school closures only between 2.5 and 6.2 per cent, and shutting down businesses reduced deaths by 7.5 per cent. Even under a broader definition of lockdown, the study claimed that at best measures only reduced Covid deaths by 10.7 per cent.
While they did find evidence that mask mandates — which most countries avoided during the initial lockdown — may have had more of an impact, at an estimated 18.7 per cent mortality reduction, the researchers said that it still remains to be seen if the negative societal impacts of masking add up to a fair trade-off.
Three in Four Children Suffering Psychologically Post-Lockdown, German Government Sayshttps://t.co/2loAuInMVV
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 10, 2023