Health

Coronavirus lockdown ‘made no difference to number of deaths’, study claims


LOCKDOWNS have made little impact on Covid-19 death rates around the world, it’s claimed.

Countries across the world ordered its citizens to stay home and shut up shop in a bid to stop the virulent coronavirus spreading. 

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Countries have been forced into lockdown to stop the virus spreading

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Countries have been forced into lockdown to stop the virus spreadingCredit: AFP or licensors

But now a study has sensationally claimed the drastic measures did not help reduce the global death toll which is currently more than 625,000.

Experts from the University of Toronto and the University of Texas compared mortality rates and cases in 50 different countries worst hit by the pandemic up until May 1.

They found while imposing lockdown did stop hospitals from being overwhelmed, this did not necessarily prevent high death tolls

Instead, the researchers concluded, the number of Covid-19 related deaths depended on the health and age of each nation before the pandemic.

Full lockdowns, and a high rate of Covid-19 testing were not associated with statistically significant reductions in the number of critical cases or overall mortality

Research findings

Those with above-average obesity rates, such as the UK, were 12 per cent more likely to have significantly higher death rates than those without.

In Britain two thirds of adults and a third of children are overweight.

Studies have previously shown that there is a link between Covid-19 and obesity

Countries with a higher median population age were 10 per cent more likely to have gravely ill patients.

The team also found wealthier nations had high deaths rates because their citizens travelled abroad more than poorer countries.

Obese people are more likely to die from Covid-19

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Obese people are more likely to die from Covid-19Credit: Alamy

The team, writing in the Lancet online journal EClinicalMedicine, concluded: “Government actions such as border closures, full lockdowns, and a high rate of Covid-19 testing were not associated with statistically significant reductions in the number of critical cases or overall mortality.”

Bizarrely, nations with higher smoking rates had fewer deaths which follows a slew of studies finding low levels of smokers among hospital patients.

But some experts say the findings may not be accurate. 

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter of the University of Cambridge, told the Daily Mail: “A large number of possible predictors are put into a model with only 50 observations, and then the resulting formulae are over-interpreted.”

A study published in Nature, a scientific journal, in June foundlockdown orders implemented nationwide prevented about 60 million people from contracting the virus.

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