Economists find lockdowns reduced COVID-19 deaths only 0.2% according to John Hopkins study

BALTIMORE, Md. (WCJB) - A meta-analysis aimed at determining if lockdowns reduced COVID-19 deaths called the policies “ill-founded.”

Three economic professors co-authored the study, ‘A Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Lockdowns on COVID-19 Mortality’ which reviewed 24 relevant studies on the effectiveness of lockdowns. The researchers screened out 18,590 studies that did not meet their criteria.

They found that lockdowns in Europe and the United States reduced COVID-19 mortality by 0.2% on average. Shelter in place orders reduced mortality by 2.9% on average.

The meta-analysis concluded that lockdowns are not effective at protecting public health and “they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted.”

The authors of the study are Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke, Lund University economics professor Lars Jonung, and special advisor at Copenhagen’s Center for Political Studies Jonas Herby.

A Literature Review and Meta Analysis of the Effects of Lockdowns on COVID 19 Mortality by ryan turbeville on Scribd