Johns Hopkins Study Says COVID-19 Lockdowns Had ‘Little to No Effect’ on Mortality Rates

February 3, 2022

(AllSides) – COVID-19 lockdowns in the U.S. and Europe “should be rejected out of hand as a pandemic policy instrument,” according to researchers led by the head of Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics. The group’s 62-page study found that lockdowns “reduced COVID-19 mortality by 0.2% on average,” while also “reducing economic activity, raising unemployment, reducing schooling, causing political unrest, contributing to domestic violence, and undermining liberal democracy.” Researchers conducted a statistical analysis combining the results of multiple scientific studies on COVID-19 and public health lockdowns. The study was co-authored by Scandinavian economic advisers Jonas Herby and Lars Jonung, along with Steve H. Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University. Some researchers suggested early in the pandemic that lockdowns were among the best ways to curb the pandemic and reduce COVID-19 mortality; other scientists opposed lockdowns from the beginning and argued that they’d do more harm than good. (Read More)