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A new study shows that mandatory lockdown orders may not provide more significant benefits to curbing the spread of COVID-19 vs voluntary measures such as social distancing and travel restrictions. Here, one pedestrian walks on the pavement in central London in the morning on March 24, 2020, after Britain ordered a lockdown.
A study evaluating COVID-19 responses around the world found that mandatory lockdown orders early in the pandemic may not provide significantly more benefits to slowing the spread of the disease than other voluntary measures, such as social distancing or travel reduction.
The peer reviewed study was published in the
European Journal of Clinical Investigation on January 5, and analyzed coronavirus case growth in 10 countries in early 2020.
The study compared cases in England, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the U.S. - all countries that implemented mandatory lockdown orders and business closures - to South Korea and Sweden, which instituted less severe, voluntary responses. It aimed to analyze the effect that less restrictive or more restrictive measures had on changing individual behavior and curbing the transmission of the virus.
Comment: While people were locked in their homes in fear, without any necessary medical help, the number of deaths caused by the lockdowns was arguably much more than from Covid-19 itself.
As local small businesses were closing and people were losing their jobs, the biggest tech giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and many others made a huge profit.