Your daily adult tube feed all in one place!
Covid curbs such school closures and stay-at-home orders did more harm than good, major US study finds
Some restrictions designed to limit the spread of Covid caused more harm than good, a major study suggests.
The research found shutting schools down had little effect on virus death rates in the US but 'hurt' children's 'educational outcomes.'
Meanwhile, stay-at-home orders, restaurant, bar and gym closures and visitor restrictions in nursing homes did nothing to save lives and caused 'harmful social isolation.'
'The absence of evidence that these [curbs] ...reduced pandemic deaths suggests that they may have been too aggressively pursued in some states,' the study said.
The analysis did, however, find controversial measures like mask mandates and vaccine passports saved hundreds of thousands of lives across the US.
Shutting schools down had little effect on virus death rates in the US but 'hurt' children's 'educational outcomes' (stock)
Excess deaths are fatalities that occurred from 2020 to 2022 that were above baseline. Many of the states where these deaths were highest were Republican-led and in the South
It comes weeks after Dr Anthony Fauci, who was instrumental in several of the anti-Covid measures, admitted many were not based on any firm science.
The new analysis, from researchers at the University of Virginia, looked at mortality and population data from the CDC in all 50 states for 2020 to 2022.
The results were compared to data for 2017 to 2019.
During those two years of the pandemic, there were 1.2million excess deaths, or fatalities of any cause that were above average.
Many of these excess would have been Covid itself.
But previous research has shown that harms associated with lockdowns also accounted for excess deaths, such as missed cancers, heart attacks, delayed hospital treatment and suicides.
The study found states that imposed the strictest and longest restrictions, such as New York and swathes of the North East, experienced lower death rates.
For example, the 10 states with the toughest curbs had an excess death rate of 282 per 100,000 over the 2-year period.
That was a third lower than the 417 per 100,000 estimated for the 10 states that imposed the 'weakest' restrictions, many of which were Republican-led and in the South.
The analysis estimated that if all 50 states had imposed the toughest level of restrictions then there would have been up to 250,000 fewer excess deaths.
Whereas there would have been up to 447,000 more deaths if all states had refused to implement vaccine passports and mask mandates.
However, the study highlights that many social factors were at play.
People in southern states that suffered large excess deaths were more likely to work labor jobs and other blue collar work, meaning they did not have the luxury of working from home and avoiding others.
These states are also more likely to have high levels of obesity and diabetes, which raise the risk of dying from Covid. They also have fewer hospitals and doctors.
The study estimated that behavioral changes, such as working from home, avoiding crowded places and getting vaccinated accounted for between 50 and 75 percent of the reduction in deaths.
The analysis found controversial measures like mask mandates and vaccine passports in schools and more broadly in society did reduce Covid deaths. Minus figures suggest a protective effect while positive indicate a negative effect on deaths. Activity limitations refers to mandated closures of restaurants, bars, and schools; stay-at-home orders; and restrictions on leisure time activities and public gatherings
The positive association between masks and lower death rates conflicts with other major studies that found they made little difference on Covid's spread.
The research around Covid vaccination is stronger. Those who were vaccinated were much less likely to die from the virus, especially among seniors.
The study conceded that some Covid restrictions caused long-term harm that we don't know the full extent of yet.
'Prior research indicates that school closings hurt educational outcomes,' wrote economics professor Christopher Ruhm, from the University of Virginia, the sole author of the paper.
'The absence of evidence that these also reduced pandemic deaths suggests that they may have been too aggressively pursued in some states.
'On the other hand, school mask mandates were probably more effective and imposed lower costs [to the government].
'Similarly, the social isolation experienced by nursing home residents was harmful, raising questions about activity limitations that restricted personal interactions for this group.'
The study was published Friday in JAMA Health Forum.