STUDY FINDS THAT LONG LOCKDOWNS DO NOT WORK

A BRAND-NEW international research has found that long Covid-19 lockdowns have little effectiveness. 

The study by a group of Asian academic researchers said the results of lengthy nationwide shutdowns were “not satisfactory” and did not produce any deceases in Covid-19 cases. 

The group advocated brief national lockdowns. 

The elaborate research is reported in an academic study titled Analysing the Effectiveness of Covid-19 Lockdown Policies Using the Time-Dependent Reproduction Number and the Regression Discontinuity Framework: Comparison between Countries. 

The investigation analysed lockdowns in several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, China, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and South Korea. 

The research found that “policy effectiveness is associated with income groups, regional political trust, and compliance, as well as country preparedness, socioeconomic factors and a country’s values.” 

The report told of “the social and institutional challenges of operating in a global crisis.” 

There are detailed analyses of the responses in various countries. 

The research told of the impact of lockdowns on mental health in certain surveyed countries. 

“In each country, the removal of the lockdown led to the return of the highly epidemic situation because of the insufficient natural immunity among the population,” the research found. 

Infection peaks and declines were studied, and there were findings on which countries better controlled the infection rate. 

The study stated: “We expected the lockdown could mitigate the spread of Covid-19, but the results were not satisfactory…” 

The difference in results could be partly explained in the fact that power was consolidated in the hands of central governments in some countries, while in others, states have autonomy.”   

The report concluded: “Our results suggest that restrictions applied for a long period or reintroduced late in the pandemic would exert, at best, a weaker, attenuated effect on the circulation of the virus and the number of casualties.” 

Lockdowns, the researchers stated, “should be strict and brief.” 

In Trinidad and Tobago, a State of Emergency was introduced in May and is due to expire in mid-November.