New Study Shows The Effectiveness Of Lockdown Measures On Preventing COVID-19 Spread

A New Zealand economist joined an international team of researchers to produce the first peer-reviewed analysis of local, regional and national policies implemented in six countries in efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research economist Dr Kendon Bell says the study, which appeared this week in the journal Nature, showed non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as travel restrictions, business and school closures, and lockdown orders, averted roughly 530 million COVID-19 infections across the six countries in the study, China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, France and the United States, for the period ending April 6. Of these infections, 62 million would likely have been “confirmed cases,” given limited testing in each country.