COVID-19 lockdowns

A usually congested highway in Penang, Malaysia, deserted during the Movement Control Order
Healthcare workers in Hong Kong prepare to conduct mass COVID-19 testing of Jordan residents during a localised lockdown.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delivers a press conference instructing the public to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.
At a community quarantine checkpoint in Bohol, Philippines, police officers check a passing jeepney.
Queue in front of a supermarket in Italy caused by social distancing measures and supply shortages during the lockdown
Volunteers in Cape Town pack food parcels to distribute to the needy during the pandemic lockdown in South Africa.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, cordons sanitaires and similar societal restrictions), were implemented in numerous countries and territories around the world.[1] These restrictions were established with the intention to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.[2] By April 2020, about half of the world's population was under some form of lockdown, with more than 3.9 billion people in more than 90 countries or territories having been asked or ordered to stay at home by their governments.[3] Although similar disease control measures have been used for hundreds of years, the scale of those implemented in the 2020s is thought to be unprecedented.[4][failed verification]

Research and case studies have shown that lockdowns were generally effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19, therefore flattening the curve.[5][6][contradictory][7] The World Health Organization's recommendation on lockdowns is that they should be very brief, short-term measures to reorganize, regroup, rebalance resources, and protect health workers who are exhausted.[citation needed] To achieve a balance between restrictions and normal life, the WHO recommends a response to the pandemic that consists of strict personal hygiene, effective contact tracing, and isolating when ill.[8][better source needed]

In addition to the health effects of lockdown restrictions,[9] researchers have found the lockdowns have reduced crime and violence by armed non-state actors, such as the Islamic State, and other terrorist groups.[10] They have also had profound negative economic impacts, and have been met with protests in some territories.

  1. ^ Li L, Taeihagh A, Tan SY (3 February 2023). "A scoping review of the impacts of COVID-19 physical distancing measures on vulnerable population groups". Nature Communications. 14 (1): 599. Bibcode:2023NatCo..14..599L. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-36267-9. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 9897623. PMID 36737447.
  2. ^ "Coronavirus: 7 dead, 229 infected in Italy as Europe braces for COVID-19". NBC News. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  3. ^ Sandford A (2 April 2020). "Coronavirus: Half of humanity on lockdown in 90 countries". euronews. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  4. ^ Levenson M (22 January 2020). "Scale of China's Wuhan Shutdown Is Believed to Be Without Precedent". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  5. ^ Bendavid E, Oh C, Bhattacharya J, Ioannidis J (April 2021). "Assessing mandatory stay-at-home and business closure effects on the spread of COVID-19". European Journal of Clinical Investigation. 51 (4): e13484. doi:10.1111/eci.13484. PMC 7883103. PMID 33400268.
  6. ^ Bjørnskov C (29 March 2021). "Did Lockdown Work? An Economist's Cross-Country Comparison". CESifo Economic Studies. 67 (3): 318–331. doi:10.1093/cesifo/ifab003. PMC 8083719.
  7. ^ Perra N (13 February 2021). "Non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A review". Physics Reports. 913: 1–52. arXiv:2012.15230. Bibcode:2021PhR...913....1P. doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2021.02.001. ISSN 0370-1573. PMC 7881715. PMID 33612922.
  8. ^ Doyle M (11 October 2020). "WHO doctor says lockdowns should not be main coronavirus defence". ABC. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  9. ^ Greenhut S (25 March 2022). "COVID Revealed America To Be a Nation of Rulers, Not of Laws". reason.com. Reason. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  10. ^ Brancati D (2023). "Locking Down Violence: The COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on Non-State Actor Violence" (PDF). American Political Science Review. January (1): 1327–1343. doi:10.1017/S0003055422001423. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.