A Johns Hopkins meta-analysis of several studies concluded that lockdowns during the first Covid-19 wave in the spring of 2020 only reduced the death rate in the United States and Europe by .2 percent.
As researchers stated, “While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted. In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.”
The individuals who conducted the research include Steve Hanke, a Johns Hopkins University economics professor; Lars Jonung, a Lund University economics professor; and Jonas Herby, a special advisor at Copenhagen’s Center for Political Studies. The three researchers analyzed the impact lockdown measures, including school shutdowns, business closures, mask mandates, and other various lockdown measures that were implemented, had on Covid19 deaths.
The researchers also analyzed shelter in place orders and found that they only reduced Covid-19 deaths by 2.9%.