Daily Mail | 17 Nov 2023
- Researchers made model that measures Covid deaths for different policies
- Letting people adapt behaviour just as effective as lockdowns, study suggests
Covid lockdowns were no more effective at controlling the pandemic than letting people adapt their own behaviour to the threat, a major Oxford University-backed study suggests.
Researchers modelled virus death and unemployment rates in response to different pandemic policies.
Results showed imposing blanket shutdowns, which forced people to stay home and closed essential shops, squashed fatality rates for the virus.
However, leaving people to adapt their own behaviour — similar to the controversial approach used in Sweden — was just as effective, data revealed.
Experts concluded that both policies led to ‘similar trade-offs’ for people’s health and the economy, with both approaches triggering huge job losses.
