Coronavirus Shutdowns Prevented 60 Million Infections: Study

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley estimated that the coronavirus shutdowns prevented 60 million cases of COVID-19.

The team studied the impact of stay-at-home orders in the United States, China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, and France, and looked at 1,171 different regulations put in place in the early days of the pandemic. Before the restrictions were put in place, the number of new infections was growing at a rate of 38% per day. Once the restrictions were put in place, the infection rate began to drop "significantly and substantially."

"Without these policies employed, we would have lived through a very different April and May," said Solomon Hsiang, director of the Global Policy Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley.

While the study did not estimate the number of lives saved, another study by epidemiologists at the Imperial College London estimated the shutdowns saved more than three million lives in 11 European countries. The two studies used different methodologies but came to similar conclusions and were both published on Monday (June 8) in the scientific journal Nature.

"I don't think any human endeavor has ever saved so many lives in such a short period of time. There have been huge personal costs to staying home and canceling events, but the data show that each day made a profound difference," Hsiang said. "By using science and cooperating, we changed the course of history."

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