False: Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic are ineffective.

By: Pallavi Sethi
July 27 2021

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An Imperial College London study found that lockdowns saved more than three million lives across Europe.As part of an investigation, Logically reviewed thousands of online messages sent between the Health Advisory and Recovery (HART) team members. In the chat records, we found several baseless and misleading claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic. One member challenged the effectiveness of lockdowns. However, a leading study by the Imperial College of London revealed that lockdown interventions in Europe saved approximately 3.1 million lives. HART, an online association, describes itself as a "group of qualified U.K. doctors, scientists, economists, psychologists and other academic experts." Its website claims a "lack of open scientific debate in mainstream media" related to the COVID-19. Logically obtained access to thousands of messages and hundreds of documents shared between HART team members and found several members to be vaccine-sceptic. The group has been attempting to lobby U.K. M.P.s to gain political influence within the COVID-19 discourse. Chat records pointed out that HART members rejected the success of lockdown measures and exchanged dangerous and misleading COVID-19 claims. One member went as far as to say that "lockdowns are twice as bad as they are good." However, in June 2020, the Imperial College of London published a report in the journal Nature and concluded that lockdown interventions in Europe saved approximately 3.1 million lives. The researchers studied the impact of significant health interventions, including lockdowns, across 11 European countries, from February 2020, the start of the lockdowns, to May 2020, when lockdowns were lifted. The BBC reported that researchers used disease modelling to predict the potential lives that could be lost if lockdowns did not happen. According to their modelling, lockdowns saved around 470,000 lives in the U.K., 690,000 in France and 630,000 in Italy. Another study published in Nature by scientists in the United States studied the impact of lockdowns in China, Iran, France, South Korea and the U.S. The researchers concluded that lockdowns helped to prevent 530 million COVID-19 cases. Therefore, as a health measure, lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant impact on reducing transmissions and, therefore, saving lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organization or your national healthcare authority.