by Olivia Cook, Natural News:
A major study has found that the collateral damage instituting lockdowns in reaction to the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) has left behind “a legacy of harm” affecting hundreds of millions of people around the world.
The study, published by the Social Science Research Network, reviewed and synthesized the results of over 600 other published studies focused on the impact of the response to the pandemic.
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The study developed a “harm framework” spanning 10 categories – community, economy, education, environment, food security, governance, health, income, intimate relationships and lifestyle – to better understand the breadth and width of how COVID-19 lockdowns negatively affected humanity.
“This cumulative academic research shows that the collateral damage of the pandemic response was substantial, wide-ranging and will leave behind a legacy of harm for hundreds of millions of people in the years ahead,” wrote the authors of the study. “Young people, individuals and countries with lower socioeconomic status, women and those with pre-existing vulnerabilities were hit the hardest.”
The researchers of the study pointed out how many original predictions about the harm that nationwide and global lockdowns caused have been supported by the data. Non-COVID-related excess mortality surged, mental health worldwide deteriorated, child abuse and domestic violence increased, global income inequality widened and food security worsened.
Furthermore, many people lost valuable educational opportunities, unhealthy lifestyle behaviors increased, social polarization increased, debt of most kinds soared, human rights declined and democratic ways of governance backslid throughout much of the world where free elections are held.
Negative effects of lockdowns keenly felt by most Americans
In the United States, the harms caused by the lockdowns are already well understood. Firstly, the number of mental health crises and suicide rates in the country has skyrocketed.
“Being cut off from friends, family and many of the other things that give life meaning has proved too much for many of those who were already struggling,” wrote Brad Polumbo in an article for the Foundation for Economic Organization, a pro-free market think tank.
With the increase in social isolation and feelings of despair, many Americans turned to abusing drugs and other dangerous substances. Many of the country’s recovering addicts even experienced relapses during the lockdowns. In many states, the number of fatalities from opioid overdoses increased by thousands of people annually.
Tragically, many more people trapped at home were cut off from outside support, increasing rates of child abuse and domestic violence across the country. Many hospitals around the country have found greatly increased levels of injuries consistent with domestic violence and physical abuse wounds.
The lockdowns and the tragedies it caused in people’s homes have all had an effect on how devastated the American economy became. The lack of free economic opportunities caused by the lockdowns led to an increase in the number of Americans who were having trouble feeding their families. (Related: Study: States that implemented COVID lockdowns suffered major ECONOMIC LOSSES.)
“Closing down businesses and schools might have limited the spread of COVID-19,” said Polumbo. “But it’s also clear the economic consequences of the lockdowns caused mass malnutrition and even pushed many American families to the brink of starvation.”
“Societal harms should challenge the dominant mental model of the pandemic response: It is likely that many COVID policies caused more harm than benefit,” wrote Kevin Bardosh, an assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and the main author of the study. “Planning and response for future global health emergencies must integrate a wider range of expertise to account for and mitigate societal harms associated with government intervention.”
