Do severe lockdowns have an impact on the death toll of COVID-19?

Montreal, June 29, 2020 – Since the adoption of COVID-19 lockdowns, we have questioned whether the drastic nature of these restrictions has had an impact on the spread of the novel virus. Using data collected by the University of Oxford, The Montreal Economic Institute has prepared an animation that explains the findings of Bloomberg News’ analysis.

“When analyzing the severity and timing of lockdowns in 16 European countries, we see that the severity of the measures implemented does not seem to have had an impact on the death toll,” argues Gaël Campan, senior economist at the MEI.

“Blomberg News’ analysis from May demonstrates that a country like Italy, who implemented strict containment measures, fared worse than Germany, where the measures were more relaxed,” states Peter St. Onge, associate researcher at the MEI.

The analysis from Bloomberg News highlights that the timing and location of containment measures are more critical to the spread of the virus than the severity of the containment measures.

The animation titled “Are Severe Lockdowns Really Effective?” was created by the team at the Montreal Economic Institute. This publication is available on our website.

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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policy-makers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

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Interview requests: Daniel Dufort, Senior Director of External Relations, Communications and Development, MEI. Tel.: 438-886-9919 / Email: ddufort@iedm.org