Did the COVID lockdown cost more lives than it saved?

Toby Rogers and Hugh McTavish present their cases.

Question. Did the COVID lockdown of 2020 and parts of 2021 actually cost more lives than it saved?

Or did the lockdown save more lives?

Those are two tough questions to answer. The answers depend on the context of how one would measure or arrive at some calculation.

Did the lockdown save lives. Maybe. But in the context of doing nothing in the short term. Long term, it appears the draconian measure of shutting down the United States, creating an environment of fear for anyone that ventured outside their homes, the answer would be no.

Several countries did a much better job at protecting their citizens than the US with less restrictive measures.

Now, on to the first question. Did the lockdown cost more lives than it saved? My educational background in economics tells me, probably yes. Budweiser, golf and fraternity was my first majors, but somehow I would sneak in a class or two.

Last December on the Right on Point podcast, Toby Rogers, a brilliant political economist, discussed the human cost of a long term lockdown. The despair index and what happens to the suicide rate, the drug and alcohol overdose issue and domestic abuse rate.

This past summer, Hugh McTavish, an attorney who holds PhD in biochemistry and immunology published his book, COVID Lockdown Insanity. Pretty damn smart guy.

He concludes in his mathematic calculations, all supported by facts, that for every one person that was saved by the lockdown, we have lost 4 people due to suicides, homicides, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol overdose, plus altered the lives of so many children with mental health issues.

So once again, how to we measure how many lives we saved because of the lockdown? Have no idea.

But we have a good idea of what the current human costs as a result of the lockdown.

Future human costs will be even higher as mental health conditions linger, drug and alcohol abuse along with domestic abuse continues and suicides become the norm for so many that are suffering.

This might be with us for another 5 to 10 years as we unwind our society and economy.

Keep learning, keep challenging yourself and always, always question authority.

Make it a good day. Reach out to others who may need your help.