After the pandemic started to take form, cities from all around the world were shut down, and officials started to encourage social distancing. According to some studies, the lockdown was so effective that it protected us from a tragedy. They were extremely effective, and people started to get in control of the rapid spread, which led to the saving of millions of lives.
The lockdown prevented 531 million infections in 6 countries – China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, and the United States, according to studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
The lockdown also prevented 3.1 million lives across 11 European countries. It reduced the spread by 81%. In all of these countries, the estimate of how many people can in infected person spread the virus to was less than one. This means that each infected person passed the virus to less than one person, on average. With this scenario, it is safe to say that the lockdowns could bring an end to the virus.
When the number of cases started to spike in January, February, and March, governments from China, Italy, and the US enforced measures like social distancing, closed schools and restaurants, and restricted travel. We know that the lockdown disrupted economies and a lot of people lost their jobs, but they were effective in not spreading the virus.
According to Alun Lloyd, a mathematical epidemiologist at North Carolina State University, “these control measures have worked. They have saved or delayed many infections and deaths.”
However, right now, we are dealing with another big problem. When countries start to reopen, we might deal with a new surge of infections.
