Lockdowns – how not to fight Covid
As Europe faces its highest surge of infection since the start of the pandemic and the threat of a new variant, many countries are resorting to desperate measures such as lockdowns and drastic social measures to stem the epidemic. Austria has imposed a nationwide lockdown with Slovakia hot on its heels. Austrian health minister Wolfgang Mueckstein has described lockdowns as “the only option to reduce the rate of infection.” But do lockdowns actually work? The science says that they don’t. Studies published so far on the efficacy of lockdowns show that they fail to stop the spread of an infection. Some scientists even maintain that lockdowns are “pro-contagion” and can enhance the spread. In his 2020 study of 24 European countries, Danish scientist, Christian Bjornskov found “no clear association between lockdown policies and mortality rates.” In their study, “Assessing mandatory stay-at-home and business closure effects on the spread of
